Man of the House
by Abby J and Amber L
Summary: Adjusting to living apart proves to be difficult for Jed and Abbey, especially after a bump in the road that profoundly affects their marriage. Part 13 of the Snapshots of the Past series!
1. Chapter 1

Series: Snapshots of the Past

Series: Snapshots of the Past

Story: Man of the House

Chapter 1

Disclaimer: The characters depicted in this story belong to NBC, WB, and Aaron Sorkin. We're just borrowing them for some fun :)

Story Summary: Adjusting to living apart proves to be difficult for Jed and Abbey, especially after a bump in the road that profoundly affects their marriage

Feedback is always appreciated!

* * *

"I, Josiah Edward Bartlet, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign or domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God."

On Thursday, January 3rd, 1985, Jed stood on the floor of the United States House of Representatives for the very first time and, along with his 434 colleagues, took the oath of office administered by Speaker Tip O'Neill.

Abbey, Elizabeth, Ellie, and Zoey sat at the back of the chamber and listened for Jed's name during the 40-minute quorum call before the oath, followed by his vote during the hour-long roll call that ended in O'Neill's reelection as Speaker of the House and began the group swearing in.

Afterwards, each newly minted representative joined the Speaker for a private ceremonial gathering to repeat the oath so that friends, family, and press from the member's hometown could capture the moment for posterity.

Jed had invited two dozen supporters - in addition to his family - most of whom made the journey to Washington for the historic day. His campaign director, Derek, was there, along with Larry and a few mid-level staffers, interns, and a couple of volunteers. His new communications director, Christine, blended in among the crowd to avoid the media, unwilling to snatch even a second of Jed's moment in the spotlight.

Ellie stood to his right and Liz and Zoey stood to his left. Abbey's parents, Mary and James, her sister Kate, and Jed's brother and sister-in-law Jack and Kellie all looked on proudly as Jed was sworn in for the second time with Abbey beside him, holding the bible his mother had passed down before she died.

"I, Josiah Edward Bartlet, do solemnly swear..."

He echoed the very words he had spoken earlier that morning and this time, Abbey absorbed each syllable right along with him. Her husband always had the makings of a great leader. From the days he spent taking on city officials after the Boston busing disaster in 1974 to the fight at the New Hampshire State House for Head Start and the New England Dairy Compact, Jed had won over journalists and politicians with his intellect and his tenacity.

It was those qualities that attracted voters too. They were the ones who sent him to the hallowed chambers of congress, where it was obvious that it was time to play with the big boys. Abbey was certain that Jed would fit right in. He'd play the game the way the game was supposed to be played and at the end of the day, he'd be the one standing.

It was all so simple, the way it sounded in her mind. She had no idea that this day would launch a lifetime commitment to public service and that with that commitment would come a world of changes that neither she nor her family were expecting.

* * *

"How about one more shot of you with your wife and kids, Congressman?" The official congressional photographer stood before Jed after a slew of newspaper and television interviews at the reception.

"Sounds great!" Jed beamed, always eager for more family pictures. "Hang on. Let me get my wife."

He scanned the room to find Abbey mingling with a crowd of representatives and their spouses. They were listening attentively to whatever it was she was saying and though he didn't even know the topic up for discussion, he sensed her passion in her hand and facial gestures. He snuck up beside her and wrapped his arm around her waist to subtly announce his presence.

Abbey's hand instinctively went to cover his. "Hon, Congressman Williams was just telling me about the House resolution for more funding for childhood vaccines."

"And if you had your way, that'd be first on the agenda, right?" Jed teased her lovingly, then addressed his colleagues. "Never mix medicine and politics with my wife, fellas. You're gonna get screwed every time."

Abbey returned his good-natured ribbing. "My husband's just upset that I'm campaigning before he's had a chance to look over the talking points."

"As much as I'd like to disprove that myth, it'll have to wait. The photographer wants another family photo. What do you say, babe?"

"Sure."

Jed whisked her away from her captive audience. "Should I be worried that you're going to win them over before I do?"

Abbey glanced at him, dismissively. "Would you rather I stand beside you, seen and not heard?"

"Don't ask me that question like it's something you'd actually do. You agreeing to be arm candy isn't even a remote possibility."

"And if it was?"

"If it was, I wouldn't be nearly as turned on as I am watching you work the room." He winked at her. "Where are the girls?"

"I sent Ellie and Zoey to the game room they have set up in the back. And last time I checked, Lizzie was at the dessert table."

Jed's eyes drifted to his eldest daughter who was chatting it up with one of her peers while picking at a plate of brownies. "Uh oh. That's Melissa Herald, Congressman Herald's kid."

"Why uh oh?"

"She's 18 going on 30 and she's very opinionated about politics."

"Why uh oh?" Abbey repeated.

When Jed saw Liz approach, he knew the question would soon be answered. "Wait for it."

"Dad, you know what I just found out?" Liz set her plate down on one of the tables.

"What's that?"

"Penguins are dying. They are literally being strangled to death in the waters off Antarctica by those plastic six-pack holders that people dump wherever they want. They're being horrifically murdered because of us."

"That's terrible, Lizzie."

"So what are you going to do about it?"

"Excuse me?" They strolled through the reception hall.

"Well, you're in congress now. Can't you pass a law that would make it illegal for people not to recycle?"

"Elizabeth, YOU don't recycle."

"Yeah, but now that I know that penguins are dying, I plan to start."

"And as soon as you do, be sure to..."

"Wait." When they arrived at the game room, Abbey cut him off. "Where's Ellie?"

"I thought you said she was here."

"I thought she was." Abbey waved her hand to get Zoey's attention. "Sweetie, where's your sister?"

Zoey shrugged. "She said she was sick of the party."

"Sick of the party?"

"She left."

Jed and Abbey rushed through the double doors out of the reception and split up so they could each take a separate wing of the Capitol. As she dashed through the bustling halls in search of Ellie, Abbey tried to recall her last conversation with her.

The 10-year-old had begged her mother to let her go back to the hotel with her grandparents, but Abbey refused, explaining that Grandma and Grandpa had to leave for the airport to catch their flight back to Boston. Ellie had to stay, she said, without putting the pieces together to realize that it wasn't the party Ellie was trying to avoid. It was the press.

She had always been a shy little girl. In kindergarten, she got her first taste of public attention as the lead in the school pageant and the minute she left the stage, she decided she never wanted to do it again. In Girl Scouts, she gave up the opportunity to earn an astronomy badge when she backed out of an oral presentation she was required to give.

She avoided attention of any kind and no one understood that part of her better than Abbey. So when it was Abbey who sent her to the game room instead of shielding her from the cameras, Ellie took it upon herself to evade the media any way she could. She ducked out of the reception, unnoticed, and decided to wait for her parents in the lobby of the Capitol.

"ELLIE?" Abbey called her name over and over as she ran through the building. "ELLIE?"

Hearing her mother's frantic voice, Ellie headed towards her. "What?"

Abbey stopped in her tracks. After a second of relief, she angrily confronted her daughter. "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?"

"Right here. I told Zoey to tell you I was sick of the party and that I would be waiting here."

"You told Zoey? You don't go anywhere without asking permission from me or from your father. You know that."

"But I didn't want to stay there."

Abbey grabbed the young girl's hand and started down the hall, slowing down her pace when she felt Ellie nearly slip from her grip as they came face-to-face with a photographer. Though the man wasn't even holding the camera secured around his neck, Ellie still hesitated and bowed her head to pass.

"He's doing his job, Ellie. He's here to get pictures of your dad and his colleagues for the paper, that's all."

"I know."

"You should have told me they were hovering over you." Abbey tenderly wrapped a protective arm around the reluctant girl as she led her back to the reception.

"What happened? Where did she go? Is she all right?" Jed approached his wife and daughter, full of questions.

"She's fine. She's just annoyed with the press."

"Why? Did they bother you, Ellie?"

Ellie shook her head. "No. It's just...I feel like they're always taking pictures of us. Like wherever we go, they're there. Can't we leave now?"

"Your dad has to stay for a while longer." Standing in front of her, Abbey kneeled down and twirled her finger around one of Ellie's blonde curls. "How about you hang out with me for the rest of the day? I'll play you a game of Monopoly?"

"They're back there too." Ellie gestured to the crew from New England Cable News milling around the game room to get a few shots of a couple of representatives playing chess.

"Yeah, but with me there, they wouldn't dare get too close. What do you say?"

"Okay."

Jed stopped them before they wandered away. "What about the family photo?"

"I don't wanna take anymore pictures," Ellie said.

"We have taken quite a few, Honey," Abbey reminded her husband. "Let's sit this one out."

Mother and daughter took off together, unaware that Ellie's apprehension had stung Jed. He could accept that she wasn't as interested in all this as Liz, but he didn't understand what drove her to go out of her way to avoid it, at the cost of avoiding him.

Ellie worshipped her father. When he was Jed Bartlet, patriarch and family man, she understood him. It's when he turned into Jed Bartlet, politician, that she shied away. It was a foreign world to her, one that she wasn't yet comfortable with. He was larger than life on the floor of the House and though her heart swelled with pride for him, she couldn't escape the urge to reject the fanfare that followed him.

This was just the start of a complicated relationship between father and daughter.

* * *

As soon as Speaker O'Neill presented Jed with a set of keys, the Bartlets embarked on the short walk to the Rayburn House Office Building to take a tour of Jed's congressional suite. On the fourth floor, behind a door that bore a name plate with his title, was a small lobby and three offices - one for Jed, one for his chief of staff and senior staffers, and one for his legislative aides.

Mahogany desks, leather chairs, and an assortment of office supplies had already been moved in and on the wall in his lobby was a single nail, there to hold Jed's official framed portrait once it had been taken.

"So, what do you think?" he asked as he walked Abbey through the rooms.

"About what?" She grinned when he cocked his brow. "I think it's great. I think everything about this place is great."

"Dad, what's up with the walls?" Liz joined her parents in one of the corner offices. "They're kinda dreary."

"That's how they come."

"We should paint them - bright pink with teal trim. I saw it in a design magazine."

"Elizabeth, Sweetheart..." Abbey placed her hand on her daughter's shoulder. "Your dad's never going to let you in this place if you keep talking like that."

"Your mom's right," Jed agreed.

"Dad, trust me, once you see the furniture Mom and I ordered for your apartment, you'll realize that pink and teal walls at the office are pretty minor." Giving him a tight grin, Liz turned and headed towards another office.

"What does she mean by that?" Jed questioned his wife.

"Nothing," Abbey assured him.

"Abbey?"

"You like purple futons, don't you?"

* * *

That evening, Jed, Abbey, and the girls picnicked on Chinese food take-out and fortune cookies on the bare carpet of Jed's new Porter Street apartment. It was a one-bedroom residence on the seventh floor of a fairly upscale building overlooking Rock Creek Park, just two blocks from the shops and restaurants of Connecticut Avenue and a quick metro ride away from the Capitol.

Jed and Abbey had fallen in love with the place weeks earlier. The location was safe enough to ease Abbey's mind and convenient enough to win Jed's vote. It wouldn't be like living at home with his family, but at least it was cozier than moving in to one of the extended stay hotels some of his colleagues had opted for.

After finishing his dinner, Jed cracked his cookie and read his fortune aloud. "'Walk to remember yesterday.'" He furrowed his brows. "What the hell does that mean?"

"It's philosophical," Abbey told him.

"Just because something doesn't make sense doesn't make it philosophical. I hate cookies that have meaningless fortunes inside." He jerked his hand away when Abbey tried to take the cookie. "I didn't say I wasn't going to eat it."

"Why do we have to leave tonight?" Ellie asked her mother. "Why can't we stay in Washington until Sunday?"

"Because I have to work tomorrow and you guys have stuff to do for school this weekend. Don't you have that project due on Wednesday?"

Liz took a different approach. "Then why can't Dad come home with us this weekend?"

"They're delivering furniture on Saturday," Jed reminded her. "And I have to be here because apparently, I might have to send some of it back."

"You're gonna love it! My fortune cookie says so." Liz uncoiled the thin piece of paper inside her cookie and read, 'Trust your intuition. The universe is guiding your life.'"

"Mine doesn't say anything cool like that," Ellie complained as she spouted off hers. "It says 'don't kiss an elephant on the lips today.'"

Chuckling, Abbey handed Ellie another one. "Here, Ellie. You can have mine."

"But then you won't have a fortune to read."

"That's okay. I have enough fortunes in my life anyway."

"Will somebody read mine?" Zoey held up her cookie for a volunteer.

"I'll read it!" Liz offered as she took the slip from her sister. "'The shortest distance between two people is a smile.'"

Abbey awed at the sweet sentiment while Jed rolled his eyes. "Oh geez. All right, Ellie, read the one your mom gave you."

Ellie fumbled with the cookie to pull out the fortune. "'The onion you are eating is someone else's water lilly.'" She looked up at her family, confused. "Huh?"

"You just get all the weird ones, El," Liz teased as she spotted another cookie in the bag. "There's one more left. Mom, you get this one."

"Thanks, Lizzie." Unlike her husband and daughters, Abbey was skilled at finagling the fortune out without actually cracking the cookie. She opened it up and paused when she read it.

"What is it?" Jed prodded.

"It says, 'when planning the future, always include pretzels.'"

While everyone laughed, Abbey rolled up the fortune before anyone could discover she had lied about what it said. She squeezed it back into the cookie, setting it aside so that she could sneak it into Jed's bedroom when no one was looking.

* * *

"I want you to go with us, Daddy!" Zoey gripped her father's neck tightly at the airport terminal.

"I want to go too, Sunshine. I can't though. I have to stay here and work, but we're going to talk every single night on the phone and I'm going to be home before you know it."

"Will you read to me on the phone?"

"You bet I will. I'll go out tomorrow and buy myself a copy of all your favorite books. I promise." Jed squeezed Zoey tight in his arms, then lowered her to the ground, looking to his middle daughter next.

Ellie moved in to hug him. "Can I call you if I want?"

"Any time you want, day or night. Wherever I am, you tell them you need to talk to me."

"Okay." She hid her face in his sweater so she could dry her tears before anyone noticed.

When she pulled away, Jed cupped her chin. "You didn't forget anything, did you? I'm not going to have to run to the post office first thing in the morning to mail your homework back to you?"

Ellie giggled softly. It was so like Jed to pick on her for always leaving things behind. "My homework's in my backpack."

"Good." Jed smiled. "Lizzie, get over here."

"I don't know what the big deal is," Liz replied. "You'll be home soon enough and until you are, every night is Girls Night."

She was teasing him, just as she always did. But underneath her playful demeanor, it was obvious that she was just as upset as her sisters.

"And here I thought you were going to miss me the most. You are a perplexing young lady, Elizabeth."

"Just like my father...except for the 'young lady' part."

Jed looked over his daughter's shoulder and saw Abbey tying Zoey's shoelace and helping Ellie with her coat. He pulled Liz slightly to the side. "Listen, I know you and your mom have been kind of off and on lately..."

"It's fine, Dad."

"I just want you to try. I won't be there to mediate, so I need you to watch the attitude, okay? She's already lightened her work load. If she's called in on emergencies, that isn't her fault. I don't want you giving her a hard time."

"I won't. We're cool now. Really."

"Okay. One more thing." He dug through his pockets to pull out a set of car keys he then dangled in front of her. "I'm going to need someone to take my car out for a drive now and then...you know, keep it running. Do you know anyone who wouldn't mind doing that?"

"You're giving me your car?"

"LOANING you my car."

"Thanks!" She took the keys and hugged him tightly. "It's gonna be so weird not having you around all the time. I'm gonna miss you."

"I'm gonna miss you too, Angel," Jed assured her just before he broke the embrace. "Do me a favor and help your sisters onto the plane so I can have a moment with your mom?"

"Sure."

Liz ushered Zoey and Ellie towards the jetway, giving Jed and Abbey some privacy.

"The more I think about it, the more I think we made a mistake," Abbey started. "The last time you lived in an apartment by yourself was when you were at Notre Dame and I saw the mess you made of that place. I don't know what ever made me think you'd be capable of living on your own again."

Jed laughed. "Are you trying to take away my bachelor pad?"

"Oh, how I hate that phrase."

He closed the space between them. Gazing into her eyes, he said, "It's going to be hard sleeping without you next to me."

"I didn't think we'd ever have to do that again once I finished residency. Is it too early to hand in your resignation?"

He shook his head. "Just say the word."

Regrettably, Abbey knew they were both kidding. "Ten days? I can't remember the last time we were apart for ten days."

"I can't either."

"I know it's just over a week, but...I don't know...it seems like more than that."

"That's because I won't just be away on a trip. I'll actually be living somewhere else." He was right. For the first time since before they got married, Jed's primary residence wouldn't be with her.

"It's going to be like college all over again."

His eyes shined warmly at the memory. "All the phone calls, the letters. Me in Indiana, you in Boston. I almost forgot we've done this before."

"Yeah, but we barely knew each other then. It didn't matter as much."

"We missed each other though. Think about the bright side. Back then, we had to wait for Christmas vacation or Easter break to get together. Now, it's every weekend."

"The weekends will get me through the week."

"Me too."

Abbey stroked his cheek, then leaned in to kiss him. "I should go. The girls are waiting."

Jed allowed her to turn from him, but a second later, he grabbed her arm to spin her back around for one more kiss. "Call me tonight, as soon as you get there."

"I will." She stepped away from him, backwards, until she had to face the steward to check her ticket. "You better cook for yourself," she warned, throwing her head over her shoulder to address him. "I don't want to hear about burgers and fries every night, got it?"

"I got it."

Jed stood grounded to his spot, watching her for as long as he could as she made her way to the plane. He wondered how long he could stay at the airport. Could he just roam around aimlessly after their flight took off?

He knew he was being silly. Even if he wouldn't be living with his family seven days a week, he'd still see them often. But he couldn't help it. For a man so used to coming home every night to a house full of people, the prospect of returning to his cold and empty apartment all alone depressed him.

Just as he sat down on one of the chairs by the gate, he heard the rapid clicking of heels against the floor. He jumped to his feet to see Abbey running back towards him.

She couldn't resist charging into his open arms one more time. "I forgot to tell you, I put the leftover Chinese food in your fridge and I ordered groceries from the market around the corner. They'll be bringing them by in about an hour so you need to get back to your apartment now."

"I do, do I? Did you do this because you knew I'd be hesitating?"

"Why do you think I told them to deliver at eight?" She squeezed his hand, then separated from him once again. "I'll call you when we get there. I love you."

"I love you too."

This time, when she stepped onto the jetway, she was gone for real, leaving Jed to slowly walk over to the window so he could watch the plane.

* * *

Late that evening, back at the farm, Lizzie passed by her mother's bedroom. The door was open and Abbey was draped under the covers, reading. At least, she was pretending to read. Liz spied on her for a few minutes and when it was obvious Abbey wasn't even turning the page, she interrupted.

"Mom?"

"Why are you still up?"

"I can't fall asleep. Did Dad say if he'd call again tonight?"

"He said he'd call tomorrow."

"Are you okay sleeping alone?"

Abbey pulled off her glasses and looked her daughter in the eye. "I'd actually like some company."

Liz stepped back into the doorway and shouted down the hall, "ELLIE, ZOEY, SHE SAID YES!"

Within seconds, all three girls, holding their own pillows and in Zoey's case, even a blanket, raced to their parents' bed and jumped onto the mattress, crowding themselves around their mother. An amused Abbey couldn't deny that having them there was exactly what she needed on her first night without Jed.

"Ellie, I wanna sleep next to Mommy," Zoey whined.

"Go to the other side."

"But I wanna sleep on this side!"

"I'm already on this side!"

Before Abbey could intervene in the disagreement between Zoey and Ellie, the ringing phone on the bedside table demanded her attention. She held up her hand to silence her girls as she reached for the receiver.

"Hello?"

"What are you wearing right now?" Jed's tone was amorous and playful.

"Um, flannel PJ's. The girls and I are having a little slumber party in here." She lowered her voice to add, "And they have incredible hearing powers so watch yourself."

"Daddy?" Zoey pulled on the cord. "I wanna talk to Daddy!"

"You can talk to him in a minute." Abbey rushed through a few pleasantries, then surrendered the phone to her youngest daughter first. "Give it to Lizzie when you're done."

"Daddy, Ellie won't let me sleep next to Mommy."

As Zoey began her call, Ellie fluffed her pillow and claimed her spot, angrily narrowing her eyes at her little sister. "Tattletale."

"I am not!"

Abbey shook her head at both of them. "Zoey, either talk to your father or give the phone to Lizzie. Ellie, quit provoking her."

"I don't get why she can't just sleep on the other side."

"We'll figure out the sleeping arrangements as soon as she's done."

The phone was eventually passed around the bed to Lizzie, then to Ellie. When all three girls finished their conversations, Ellie hung up the receiver, remorsefully covering her mouth when she realized Abbey never got a chance to say goodbye.

"I'm sorry."

"You knucklehead!" Abbey threw a pillow at her middle daughter.

"I forgot!" A giggling Ellie returned the gesture.

Picking up the phone to dial her husband, Abbey tried to ignore the chaos in the room as Zoey continued the pillow fight. "Jed?"

"Next time, give the phone to Ellie first instead of last."

"Are you ready for bed?"

"I am," he said. "But it sounds like you've got quite the party going on over there."

"Pillow fight," she told him. "I'll call you during breakfast?"

"I can't wait. Goodnight, love."

"Goodnight."

As Abbey joined her daughters in their pillow fight, Jed wandered through his unfamiliar apartment towards his bedroom where he had planned to sleep in a sleeping bag on the floor. He pulled the zipper, yanking down the top flap and that's when he saw it. The fortune cookie that Abbey had left for him caught him by surprise at first. He examined it briefly, then broke it in half to pull out the fortune.

With his thumb gliding over the words, he read it out loud. "'Someone is thinking of you.'"

The hint of a smile curved his lips before he tucked the fortune under his pillow and laid down to settle in for the night.

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

Series: Snapshots of the Past

Series: Snapshots of the Past

Story: Man of the House

Chapter 2

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Previously: Jed was officially sworn in as a member of the United States House of Representatives; Abbey and the girls shared a tearful goodbye with Jed as they left Washington

Summary: Abbey rushes to get her girls ready for school; Liz begins to see how wrong she was about her mother; Jed tries to iron out the wrinkles in his first week in office

* * *

"What are you having for breakfast?" Abbey unknowingly wrapped herself in the phone cord as she scrambled a half dozen eggs on the stove, removed two slices of toast from the toaster, and replaced them with two more.

"Pancakes and fruit salad," Jed replied, a smirk defining his features.

"Seriously."

"Donuts and coffee."

"Jed, I told you - real food. Am I going to have to hire you a cook?"

"I'll grab something on my way to the office."

"A hot dog perhaps?" she asked, disapprovingly.

"Perhaps," he confessed without batting an eye.

Abbey lowered the phone from her mouth to shout upstairs. "GIRLS, if you want to talk to your father, get down here!"

Jed jerked the phone away from his ear, bringing it back only when she was finished. "Assuming their father has an eardrum left after that outburst."

"Sorry."

"I wanna talk to Daddy! I wanna talk to Daddy!" Zoey ran into the kitchen just as fast as her little feet could take her.

"Hurry up." After untangling herself from the cord, Abbey handed Zoey the phone, then looked up to see Elizabeth strolling in. "Good morning."

"Good morning."

"Where's Ellie?"

"She's still asleep."

"What do you mean she's still asleep?" She glanced at her watch. "She's going to be late for school."

"You know how she is in the mornings." Liz opened the drawer that was home to a lime green water gun. "You want your gun?"

"I do." Abbey filled it with water at the sink and turned to the teen to say, "Keep an eye on the eggs" before she slipped out of her heels to prepare for the trek to Ellie's bedroom.

It was often difficult to drag the 10-year-old out of bed early in the morning, but Abbey found that squirting water at her sleeping form usually did the trick. She turned the knob and entered without knocking. Kneeling beside Ellie's bed, she softly sang the song she always sang to lure her girls from bed, the same one her mother used on her when she was growing up.

"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty; I've come to do my duty; I've come to get you out of bed; wake up, you sleepy head!"

"Not yet," Ellie mumbled.

Abbey brushed her pretty blonde hair off her forehead and whispered, "It's time to wake up, Goldilocks."

"Five more minutes."

"Not five more minutes. Now."

When Ellie turned away from her, Abbey scrambled to her feet and in one quick motion right after another, she peeled back the covers, aimed the water gun at the back of Ellie's head, and began to fire.

Ellie furiously sat up. "MOM!"

"You're going to be late for school," Abbey replied with a few more squirts, this time to her face. "It's time to get up. Come on."

"Do I have to go to school today?"

"Of course you have to go to school today. Your science project is due today. Aren't you excited about it?"

Ellie shrugged with little enthusiasm. "I guess."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

It wasn't like her to be so indifferent about an assignment on which she spent so much time. Ellie didn't just make a half-hearted attempt at a science project just to satisfy the requirements for an "A." Instead of drawing pictures of the rings of Saturn or creating a collage of environmental hazards like some of her classmates, Ellie chose a more challenging theme - how rocket design affects change in performance.

She poured weeks of energy into her research, spent hours sketching her design, and with Jed and Abbey's help, finally purchased the materials and created three separate model rockets to complete her analysis.

Seeing her so hesitant about it now concerned Abbey. "Ellie, what's going on?"

"I'm nervous about the presentation." She slid over to make room for her mother to sit on the bed.

"Don't be. Just get up there and do it the same way you did in front of me and your sisters last night and you'll be fine."

"But this is in front of the whole class."

"Sweetheart, you can do this. Just concentrate on what you learned. You've been working on this project since before Thanksgiving. All that's left now is to show them what you came up with and why you chose to do what you did. Let all that hard work pay off."

"I'd rather go to sleep."

When she threw herself back, Abbey grabbed her arms and pulled her up. "Then you're out of luck. Come on, you have to get ready. It's going to be really cold out, so wear your red sweater. Dad's on the phone if you want to pick up the extension in the hall."

"Okay, I will in a minute." Abbey got up and once again, Ellie laid back down.

"Ellie, no kidding. I want you downstairs in 10 minutes."

Abbey closed her daughter's door, then headed back to the kitchen where she found Zoey leaning over the table to reach the carton of orange juice Liz had taken out of the fridge. The five-year-old struggled to grasp it until Abbey picked it up and poured her a glass.

"Thank you," she said, taking a sip.

"You're welcome." Abbey turned her attention to Elizabeth who was now on the phone with Jed. "Liz, let me know when Ellie picks up the extension."

"She just did."

"Good."

Liz hung up to join Abbey and Zoey at the table. "The eggs were ready so I turned down the stove. Do you want me to stop by the market after school?"

"No, I'll do it."

"I don't mind." The offer didn't surprise Abbey. Ever since they came home from Washington without Jed, Liz had gone out of her way to help out with household chores, even ones that had never been assigned to her.

"Don't you have Student Government today?"

"Yeah, but I'll go afterwards. I can stop at the store and still make it back here to cook dinner before you get home from work."

"You know, Liz, just because your dad's not here doesn't mean you have to step in for him. You're still the kid and I'm still the parent. The only thing I expect from you is to go to school, do your homework, and do the same chores you've always done - cleaning your room, washing the dishes when it's your turn. Beyond that, enjoy being 16 and let me worry about the adult things, okay?"

"I'm trying to help."

"I know you are and I appreciate it, but there's no need. In the freezer is a lasagna I made last night. The only thing I need you to do is pop it in the oven around 4:30."

"Lasagna, really?"

"Mommy made brownies too!" Zoey proudly declared. She had served as Abbey's little helper - and taste tester - in the kitchen the night before.

"Yes, I did." Abbey chuckled at Zoey's enthusiasm. "Remember what we talked about though? You can have a brownie only after dinner."

"I remember."

"So you made lasagna and brownies?" Liz questioned. "Where was I?"

"Upstairs, doing your homework, which is exactly where I wanted you to be. I've got everything under control, Lizzie. All those things your dad and I used to do together, I'm going to do myself, just like he did when I had to work late."

"You'll tell me if you need me to help?"

"I will." Abbey smiled appreciatively. "In the meantime, quit worrying about all these things. We're going to make this work, even if it's a little difficult from time to time. I'm in the process of moving my practice to Manchester just to make this easier on all of us."

Elizabeth stared warmly at her mother. "You liked working in Hanover, didn't you? You liked DHMC."

"I'm not leaving DHMC. I'm just joining the affiliate hospital."

It wasn't the same and Liz knew it. All the things she had said about her mother just a few months earlier seemed so far from the truth now. She now knew, without a doubt, that her assumptions about her father moving to DC alone just so Abbey wouldn't have to leave her practice were biased and unwarranted.

Sitting at the kitchen table that morning, Liz regretted those hard words and as she watched Abbey return to the stove to dish out the eggs and finish preparing breakfast, she realized just how wrong she was.

* * *

It was just after 9 a.m. when Jed sprinted through the halls of the Rayburn House Office Building towards his 4th floor congressional suite. As he burst through the door, somewhat frazzled, he stripped his coat and flung it on the coat rack without noticing his senior staffers waiting in the lobby.

"Jed?" Christine was the first to approach him.

He looked to her, instantly apologetic. "I know we had an 8:00 meeting today. I actually left my apartment early, figuring I'd get some work done before you all got here. That was the plan."

"So what happened?"

"You would think there would be big, glaring signs on the metro ramp, telling you if a particular train is an express going to Arlington, wouldn't you?"

"You went to Arlington?"

"I did not GO to Arlington. I was abducted and taken to Arlington against my will by a train with a mind of its own and a conductor who's really just a phantom that no one can reach." He took a breath and stared at the faces looking back at him. "Who are you guys?"

"Michael Glass, Congressman."

"Oh, right." Michael Glass was the man who would serve as Jed's new Chief of Staff. Though he technically began the job on Monday, Jed hadn't yet met him in person. "It's nice to finally put a face with a voice. Welcome aboard. It's nice to meet you"

"The pleasure's mine."

Christine continued the introductions. "This is Lindsay Griffith, Michael's deputy, you've already met Rick Page, the new press secretary I hired, and our receptionist Madeline Holland. The legislative director is at a meeting down the hall. You can meet him later."

"Are people going to be filtering in throughout the week? I don't mind. I just want to know what to expect."

"Probably. This is what happens during the transition time. By next week, everyone will be settled and you'll start to get used to them."

"Just so you know," Jed addressed all his new staffers. "I'm terrible with names, so if I ask you for your name in about 10 minutes, please don't take it personally."

"Congressman, if I may ask," Rick interjected. "Why are you taking the metro anywhere?"

"I figured it'd be faster than walking."

"We need to get you a driver."

"A driver?" Jed scoffed. "Forget it. I don't need a driver. I'm not some international diplomat or ritzy millionaire."

"No, you're a United States Congressman."

"That's right and I'm fine taking the subway, like everyone else."

Rick silently glanced at Michael, who then glanced at Christine. She had a history with Jed. She knew how to communicate with him to get her point across without insulting him.

"I think what Rick is saying is that you can't just take the metro everywhere," Christine delicately began. "I mean, what are you going to do, show up at the Inaugural Ball next weekend in your tux climbing a flight of stairs up from underground? Congressman, you need a car and a driver."

"I'll take care of it," Lindsay offered.

"Fine...for now. I'll use a driver for important things and we can revisit this issue later. Let's just get this meeting started."

"We can't," Michael told him. "You're needed on the floor for a vote."

"I thought we weren't voting on anything until after Inauguration Day."

"Well, technically that's true. But you're not voting on a bill this morning. You're voting on whether or not to vote on a bill. It's the new education initiative that got lost in the shuffle last session. It's not going to fall by the wayside so it doesn't really matter how you vote."

"You're telling me I have to go down there to vote on whether or not we should take a vote? And that in doing so, my vote won't even make a difference one way or the other?"

"That's right," Christine confirmed.

"Well, thank goodness I spent all those years in school and in local government studying the legislative process or I might not have been adequately prepared for the intricacies facing me in the United States House of Representatives." Jed sighed. "For God's sake, I'll be back after my vote."

* * *

"I got to vote on whether or not to vote today." Jed had tucked himself under the covers in his bed that evening, snuggled up with the phone as he and Abbey shared a late-night call.

"What?" she asked, sliding her legs under the comforter and laying back against her pillows in the master bedroom back at the farm.

"I'm serious. I stood on the floor of the House and I cast a vote about whether or not we should vote on the education bill that fell through the cracks last year."

"They do that? I mean, you do that? You vote on taking votes?"

"Apparently, that's where our tax dollars go. Comforting, isn't it?"

"Just roll with the punches, Jed. Soon, you'll get to do some actual governing."

"Yeah." He rolled onto his back and propped his arm under his head. "What are you wearing?"

"What do you wish I was wearing?" Her voice held a hint of seductive flirtation.

"That black lace teddy I got you for Christmas."

"Then that's what I'm wearing."

"You are a master at bluffing," he grinned. "I'm still trying to recover from the purple futons you promised me were coming when, in fact, you ordered the same furniture I would have ordered myself."

Abbey enjoyed tricking her husband. "It got you all worked up though, didn't it? You can't blame me for adding a little spice to your life."

"Hot Pants, you ARE the spice in my life. Which brings me back to my original question, what are you wearing? I want to picture you in my mind where all my lascivious thoughts live."

"You gonna dream about me tonight?"

"Don't I every night?"

"I'm wearing my sheer pink nightgown." She wasn't lying this time. "What about you?"

"I'm naked."

"It's too cold to be naked."

"Not here it's not." He didn't want to admit it, but she was right. Jed was actually dressed in boxers and a long-sleeved T-shirt. "I'm completely naked and wishing you were lying here next to me."

"I wish I was too. You have no idea how much." Abbey curled up on her side, the phone still cradled at her ear.

"Abbey?"

"Yeah?"

"How are we going to do this for two years?"

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

Series: Snapshots of the Past

Series: Snapshots of the Past

Story: Man of the House

Chapter 3

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Previously: Jed and Abbey tried to adjust to living apart

Summary: It's Jed's first weekend home

* * *

"Do you see him?"

"I see him!"

"I don't see him!"

The Bartlet girls bounced around at the gate on the lookout for Jed. Liz was the only one who caught a glimpse of him for the split second the couple in front of him on the jetway separated, but just as quickly as they parted, they returned, blocking Jed from view until he stepped into the terminal.

Abbey summoned her willpower to stand back and allow her daughters first access to rush their father with kisses, exactly how she imagined they would. Lifting Zoey off the ground, Jed hugged all three girls at once while he peered over their heads in search of his wife.

He found her standing to the side, ready and eager to knock him over with her greeting, so he set his youngest daughter down, then ambushed Abbey, ferociously scooping her up into his arms. "I've been wanting to hold you from the moment you left Washington."

"You feel so good."

He held her tighter than he ever had before. "It's been such a long week."

"Ten days."

"Nine actually," he corrected teasingly, pulling back from the neck up so he could look at her. He also had a hard time believing it had only been nine days. It felt like so much more.

"Shut up and kiss me."

Savoring the feel of her warm body pressed against his, his hands threaded her thick auburn locks as they melted from a sweet kiss into another embrace. "I missed you so much."

Keeping one hand around his waist, it was Abbey's turn to pull away so she could get a look at him. She had missed him too, much more than she could express with just words. "How was the flight?"

"Not bad, except I was so anxious from the second we boarded that it seemed like the longest flight in history."

She reached down for his briefcase and said, "Let's go home."

* * *

Zoey was the first to entertain her father with tales of what he had missed during his days in Washington. She began talking as they waited at the baggage carousel and continued all the way back to the farm.

"And you know what else, Daddy?"

"What?"

"I can almost write my name!"

Though her words were jumbled, seemingly without a breath in between sentences or even topics, Jed didn't dare interrupt her for fear that he'd squash her enthusiasm and hurt her feelings. Abbey, Liz, and Ellie listened silently, spectators really to Zoey's recap of the past nine days.

"Mommy helps me every night and she said that you can help me too when you come home!"

"She's still having trouble with the 'z'," Abbey discreetly informed Jed.

"We'll work on it, Zoey," Jed promised. "You'll be writing your name in no time."

When the Bartlets drove up the gravel drive and parked in front of the farmhouse, Zoey was the first to jump out of the car. She waited for Jed, skipping around him as he gathered his bags, locked the car, and followed Abbey to the front door.

"And you know what else, Daddy?"

It appeared there was no end in sight to Zoey's oral dissertation on the goings-on at Casa Bartlet unless Abbey intervened. So she did. "All right, Miss Chatterbox, give someone else a turn."

"But I have more to say."

"And there will be plenty of time for you to say it later. Right now, I'm sure your dad wants to get into some comfortable clothes so he can get down here and enjoy a homecooked breakfast."

She was right. Jed had cooked for himself a couple of times in Washington, but being on his own had taken away the motivation to cook the big meals he was used to preparing in New Hampshire. He couldn't wait to charge into the kitchen and gobble down one of Abbey's delicious, hearty breakfasts.

There was one thing he wanted to do first, however.

"Actually, the first thing I'd like to do is shower. I left my apartment so early this morning, I didn't get a chance." He tilted his head suggestively, directing his question to Abbey. "Wanna help me unpack?"

Abbey's sly grin gave away her most intimate thoughts. Liz picked up on the cue and led her sisters to the family room so the adults could find their way upstairs privately. She knew this would happen soon after Jed got off that plane and while she was officially repulsed by the idea of her parents' physical reunion, in her heart, she was secretly thrilled.

There was something so natural about it. She grew up well aware that her parents adored one another, spying countless loving stares exchanged over meals, hearing the jovial banter between them that to an outsider might have sounded like disagreements, but was, in fact, a hallmark of their relationship, characteristic of their mutual passion and intellect. She had seen them romance each other with flowers and candy as if they were a couple of teenagers new to the dating scene even after 17 years of marriage. She watched them, as only their eldest child could, blossom from newlyweds and first-time parents to a mature couple still just as madly in love as they were on their wedding day.

Having Jed away for the past nine days was strange and unfamiliar. But now, as he and Abbey wrapped their arms around one another and headed to their bedroom, Liz noted, with a smile, that things were back to normal once again.

* * *

"Do you think the girls caught on to your lie?" Naked, Abbey approached Jed from behind under the shower head.

"What lie?" Jed turned to face her, his hands instinctively running up and down every curve of her body.

"That you skipped your shower this morning."

"How would they know? And even if they do, I really don't care."

"Jed," she sighed anxiously as she felt him swell against her belly. "You really want to speed through this?"

"It's been over a week, Abbey. I don't think I'll be able to help it."

"People do this all the time, you know. Some couples are apart for weeks, months, even a year at a time, believe it or not."

"Those couples are crazy."

"You think it'll get easier?"

He was all over her now, caressing her, kissing her, and fondling every inch of her. "I don't want it to get easier."

Abbey surrendered to his touch, the feel of his hands against her wet flesh, of his fingers prodding her breasts, and his lips against hers, falling just below so his mouth could leave a trail of kisses on her neck, her earlobe, and back to her face.

She rested her back against the tile, then lifted her leg to place her foot on the rim of the tub, opening herself up to him as he held her securely in his arms and penetrated her deep inside her feminine depths. From the waist down, they were erotically joined. From the neck up, their lips were still locked as Jed began a series of rhythmic thrusts that, coupled with the slick traction between their bodies, sent them both over the edge in record time.

"God, I missed you." Abbey gasped against his shoulder, her body recovering from a thrilling climax. "I don't want it to get easier either. I hate being apart from you."

"The weekend just doesn't seem like long enough, does it?"

"I think we're both going to be walking funny by Monday morning."

"Or sooner," he said as he pushed a few damp curls off her face, then pressed his mouth to hers once again, mumbling in between kisses, "Pretty soon, I'm going to be ready for round two."

"Mmm." Her hand roamed his extremities until she found - and squeezed - the soft appendage below his waist. "I know you will."

* * *

It was late afternoon by the time Jed changed into a pair of old, faded blue jeans, a gray Notre Dame sweatshirt, and a jacket he wore just to keep Abbey from lecturing him on the cold while he helped Liz take her horse, Shasta, out for some exercise.

Shasta was Liz's responsibility on the weekends, a chore the teenager gladly accepted ever since the day the family moved to the farm. Liz had taken an instant liking to Shasta all those years ago and as Jed watched her gently stroking the horse's chestnut coat, he could see her love for the animal was even stronger today.

"I'm taking Zoey for her riding lesson tomorrow morning," he said. "Wanna come along?"

"Nah. I have stuff to do."

"How come you didn't want riding lessons? Your mom and I would have paid for them."

"I know. Mom asked when she was looking into it for Zoey. I like riding and all, but lessons just aren't my thing. Anyway, I have too much going on."

"Like what?" Father and daughter walked side by side, heading towards the paddock just outside the barn.

"School, cheerleading, student government. SATs are coming up in the spring."

"That's right. Pretty soon, you're going to be applying to college. I'm going to have to take some time off next year so I can take you around to look at campuses." His pride was so clear in his voice that Liz didn't even have to look at him to see it.

"That'll be fun."

"So tell me, am I going to have to get plane tickets or is this going to be something we can do by car?"

Liz knew exactly what he was asking. With a roll of her eye, she said, "I haven't ruled out Notre Dame, Dad. It's still on my list."

"Good girl. What else is on your list?"

"Mom wants me to apply to Boston, of course, and I know you both want me to apply to Dartmouth and Harvard."

"And Yale and Cornell and Princeton and Brown and Columbia."

"You forgot U-Penn," she told him. "What if I don't want an Ivy League education? You and Mom didn't have one for undergrad."

"Just because Notre Dame isn't an Ivy..."

"Dad, it's a great school. That's not what I mean. I just may not want to go to a big university, that's all. I might choose to go to a small liberal arts college right here in New England. Or maybe I'll want to go some place totally different. I read that the University of Hawaii has a highly regarded pre-law program."

"First of all, HAWAII?" When Liz chuckled without comment, Jed moved on. "And second, pre-law?"

"Yeah, or political science or public policy maybe. Something government related. I haven't decided exactly what yet."

Jed was beaming at the possibility that his daughter might one day follow in his footsteps. "Well, the pre-law/political science/public policy thing sounds great. But come on now. You don't want to go to Hawaii for academic enrichment."

"No?" she asked, innocently.

"No. You want to go to Hawaii for the cute surfers, let's get real. Plus, there's the added bonus of no surprise parental visits. Admit it, you've thought about that."

"Okay, so I've thought about it. I guess you should know the University of Alaska is also on my list for just that reason."

"See, now you're just messing with me." Jed returned her girlish giggles with a stern look of irritation which quickly faded into a fatherly smile.

"I'm not making any of these decisions just to escape you and Mom. You can relax."

"Yeah, I'll decide when I can relax. It's going to be right after you tell me about this boy."

Stuffing her hands in her pockets, Liz watched Shasta on a slow trot around the paddock, a move to avoid looking at Jed during this conversation. "I've told you bits and pieces before. His name is Scott and I think you'll like him."

"When's your first date?"

"Tomorrow, assuming he gets past you and Mom."

"Tomorrow's Sunday."

"Yeah, but Monday's a holiday so no school. He's coming over for dinner and then I hope you'll be cool with him taking me to a movie."

Liz knew the drill and even at their tender ages, so did Ellie and Zoey. It was one of Jed's unbreakable, unnegotiable ground rules - before any young man was allowed to date one of the Bartlet girls, he had to meet Jed and Abbey for dinner.

It was an annoying inconvenience for Liz at first, but she came to realize that her parents didn't want to interrogate her dates. They were simply trying to insure that their daughter would be treated with as much respect and care outside their home as she had inside.

"Ah, so that's what you wanted to spring on me." Jed nodded, knowingly. "You're bringing a young beau over for dinner."

"Yeah, except I don't call him a young beau. He's my boyfriend."

"I prefer beau. It sounds better, don't you think?"

"Only to you, Dad." She teased, but truth be told, Liz liked that traditional side of Jed. "So you'll meet him with an open mind?"

"My mind is as open as they come, Lizzie."

"And please don't call me 'Lizzie' in front of him."

"Okay, what would you prefer?" Jed asked, then paused for a beat while Liz called out for Shasta. "Lizbit? Libby? Elsie? Bess? Betty? Betsy?"

"Dad." She patted her horse and shook her head at her father.

"You were almost called Betsy, you know."

"When?"

"When you were a baby in London. We had this neighbor who must have had some kind of block against Lizzie because she just loved to call you Betsy. Your mom and I cringed every time she spoke to you until we finally got her to stop. Once we did though, she started in on Lisa, swearing up and down that it was an acceptable nickname for Elizabeth."

"Well, I'm glad you and Mom didn't cave."

Jed took the lead as they strolled away from the field. "So am I, Lizzibear."

"Go ahead." With another shake of her head, Liz reluctantly encouraged him. "Get it out of your system now so that you won't humiliate me in front of Scott tomorrow."

"Lizzibee."

"Ew."

"The Lizinator."

"That's just awful."

"The Lizmeister."

"I take it back. I want you to stop."

Jed ignored her. "Lillibet. That's Queen Elizabeth's nickname."

"Yeah, right."

"I kid you not. This is serious stuff."

* * *

"Dad, why are you always the banker?" Ellie eyed her father from across the kitchen table where she and Jed sat hovering over a Monopoly board.

"Because I'm an economist," he answered. "And the rules state that an economist must always be the banker."

"They do not."

"Sure they do."

Standing at the counter to pack away the last of the leftovers from dinner, Abbey glared at her husband. "She can read, you know."

Jed turned an annoyed glance back to his wife. "Don't you have a five-year-old in dire need of a bath?"

There was no denying that. Zoey had been told to go upstairs and get ready for her bath fifteen minutes earlier. By now, there was no telling what kind of mischief the naked preschooler had managed to get herself into.

After loading everything into the fridge, Abbey leaned down over Jed's shoulder and whispered, "Play fair."

And with a tender kiss to his cheek, she left.

"Okay, Ellie, I lied. I'm always the banker because I like being the banker. That's the only reason."

"You're not supposed to lie." Ellie rolled the dice, then moved her game piece. "How will I know if you're telling the truth from now on?"

"You'll have to live with the doubt," he said, drawing a smile out of the little girl. "So you got an A on that science project, huh?"

"Yeah."

"When do I get to see it?"

"You already saw it."

"Not the completed project. I only saw whatever you got done before Christmas. I want to see the whole thing."

"It's gonna be on display in our class for a month."

Jed looked up and noticed the way Ellie shifted in her seat. "Something on your mind?"

Surprised, she met his gaze. "No. I just wanna win."

He paused for a second, then delicately broached the subject that had been weighing on his mind all day. "Ellie, are you okay with me living in DC?"

Ellie shrugged. "I guess."

"Talk to me about it."

She lowered her head so her hair covered her face. "About what?"

Jed reached across the table and tucked a finger under her chin to lift her head. "About what's going on. Are you unhappy that I have to go back?"

"I'm not happy," she said softly as her father took the dice. "But I'm not unhappy either."

"What does that mean?"

"I don't know. Can't we just play?"

Ellie wasn't as open with Jed as Elizabeth was. She was more guarded with her emotions, more protective of her feelings, not just with him, but with everyone. It was true that even Liz sometimes shut down, but after a little prodding, she'd eventually come clean. Not Ellie. In fact, she was just the opposite. The more anyone pushed, the quieter Ellie got.

"Damn." Jed looked up to make sure Abbey wasn't around to hear him swear. Confident that she wasn't, he pressed his index finger to his lips to hush his middle daughter, then moved his race car to jail.

"If the banker goes to jail, someone else gets to be the banker." Ellie collected all the bills and dragged them to her side of the table. "Those are the rules."

Jed couldn't blame her for her bluff, especially since she learned the tactic from him. He rubbed his chin and reminded her of her earlier words of wisdom. "You're not supposed to lie."

TBC


	4. Chapter 4

Series: Snapshots of the Past

Series: Snapshots of the Past

Story: Man of the House

Chapter 4

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Previously: Jed returned for his first weekend home from Washington; Liz wanted Jed to meet her new boyfriend over dinner

Summary: Jed buys the girls a pet; the family has dinner with Liz's date; Abbey tries to reassure Jed

Rating: NC-17

* * *

Jed stirred from a deep, restful sleep early on Sunday morning, a peaceful grin on his face as he woke up next to Abbey for the first time in more than a week. After a quick tug on the sheets, he rolled onto his right side so that he could press himself up to her warm body.

Abbey had fallen asleep nude the night before and the second his thigh rubbed her satiny smooth skin, she felt the affect she had on him. She didn't move though. It was more fun to just lay still and allow him the opportunity to sweep her hair aside and kiss the back of her neck.

Her ruse didn't last long, for Jed heard her sharp breath when he nibbled on her ear. He felt her wiggle her hips to push herself against him and without hesitation, he welcomed the intrusion, lifting his arm and grabbing her waist to help her along.

She moaned when she felt his swollen shaft against her rear. "You're going to get me all randy before breakfast."

"I can't help myself." He raised the covers that sheltered her back, the target for his mouth's loving assault. "You are so beautiful."

Abbey squirmed in response to the feel of his tongue working it's way down her spine. She reached behind her and squeezed his thigh to let him know what she wanted. Once he gave her the room to roll onto her back, she curled her hand around his neck to pull his lips down to hers.

Unlike the romantic interludes of the day before, this time, husband and wife moved more leisurely, enjoying each other and savoring every moment, every look, every touch as if they could make it last forever. It wasn't a race to the finish line to satisfy sexual need. It was about nurturing the emotional connection between them with physical expressions of love.

Jed straddled his wife and as he stroked her face, brushing aside a few stray locks that shadowed her pretty green eyes, he penetrated her slowly. Abbey wrapped her ankles around his back to guide him deeper and hold him longer. He freely complied. Buried to the hilt inside her, Jed remained perfectly still while she held him in her arms, content in knowing that for that moment, they were bonded in every way possible.

* * *

Build a tee pee

Come inside

Close it tight so we can hide

Over the mountain

And around we go

Here's my arrow

And here's my bow!

Abbey recited the words of the poem in unison with Zoey as she sat with her and reviewed the steps to tie her shoelaces. Although mother and daughter had gone over this many times, Zoey still stalled, struggling to complete the chore by herself.

"There you go. You did a great job today. Just remember to follow each line of the poem, okay?" Abbey praised the five-year-old, regardless of the fact that she had hesitated more than normal today. It was because these were riding boots, she told the young girl to encourage her when she felt like quitting.

"I like these shoes." From her white turtleneck to her cream-colored jodhpurs to her black riding helmet, Zoey loved every piece of her wardrobe. "Can I wear them to school?"

"We already talked about that, remember? These are only for lessons." Abbey rose to her feet and held out her hand to her daughter. "Come on. Daddy's waiting."

"Mommy, can I go with Daddy when he goes back?"

Standing behind her, Abbey sighed sadly as she tucked Zoey's hair under her helmet. "I'm afraid not, sugar plum. He'll be back here before you know it though."

"Next week?"

"No, Sweetie. Next week is Inaugural weekend. That's that gigantic celebration I told you about, the one for President Reagan."

"And Daddy has to go."

"That's right. There are a lot of parties Daddy has to go to."

"Why can't I go?"

"Because these are adult parties. But you know what?"

"What?"

"We're planning a big trip to DC during spring break. We're going to get to do all kinds of fun things, just the five of us."

"We are?" Zoey turned to face her mother, her enthusiasm obvious in her wide smile.

"You bet we are! And in the meantime, Daddy will be home every weekend, except next and he'll be home for a whole week in February. So we're just going to have to settle for that, okay?"

"Okay."

Abbey was caught in a dilemma. Part of her hoped that as the weeks went by, the girls would become more comfortable with the new living arrangements, but the other part wondered if it was healthy or even fair to expect them to be. She speculated how the next two years were going to affect all of them and from time to time, she even feared the distance might just change their entire family.

* * *

As the afternoon sun shined high over New Hampshire, Jed chased Zoey down the hill towards the barn on a quaint pony farm in Candia, a few miles outside of Manchester. The little girl had already been there before and she knew her way around pretty well, so she raced her father just as fast as her feet could take her to Miss Grace, her riding instructor.

"I beat Daddy! I beat Daddy!"

"I think not, you little munchkin!" Jed grabbed her by the waist and tossed her into the air.

"You're going to wear her out before she even starts her lesson." Grace observed the interaction between father and daughter, affectionately shaking her head when Jed finally lowered Zoey down and straightened her helmet for her. "Congressman, it's nice to see you again."

Jed was caught off-guard. Though he was used to such formality on the Hill, he didn't expect it in his private life. "Please, call me Jed."

"Okay. Jed it is." Grace nodded, then looked to her pupil. "Ready, Zoey?"

"Yeah!"

"Uh oh, better fix that shoelace."

Jed immediately kneeled to the ground to do it for her, but before he could start, Zoey plopped herself down and reached for her laces herself. Though Jed allowed her the space to try, he stayed on his knees ready to help when she inevitably fumbled, as she had so many times in the past.

Only this time, Zoey didn't mess it up. She recited the poem Abbey had taught her and, after a second of the same hesitation that nearly foiled her attempt earlier that morning, tied her shoe like an expert.

Build a tee pee

Come inside

Close it tight so we can hide

Over the mountain

And around we go

Here's my arrow

And here's my bow!

"Zoey, that's great!" Jed cheered her when she finished. "You were barely able to hold the bunny ears last time we worked on it. How'd you learn to do it so well?"

"Mommy showed me."

"Mommy did a fantastic job. I'm impressed, Sweetheart."

Jed couldn't have been more proud of Zoey, which made it all the more confusing to him why he felt so left out of something so innocent and small. He had taught Liz how to tie her shoes using the bunny ears method. Ellie, on the other hand, had latched on to Abbey's loop, swoop, and pull rhymes. That didn't bother him. As long as Ellie learned, he was happy. But with Zoey, it was different.

It wasn't just that he wasn't around to watch her day after day as she came closer to mastering this particular task. It was bigger than that. Because of the developmental problems she faced, Zoey required more attention than her older sisters and on that day, standing out by the stables and watching her prepare for her riding lesson, it hit Jed harder than ever as he realized he wouldn't always be around to help her.

* * *

"Mommy, Mommy! We got a KITTY!" Zoey ran through the house with a little fury creature cuddled up in her arms.

"Cool!" An excited Ellie joined her sister as the preschooler set the kitten on the kitchen floor.

Just behind them, Abbey abandoned the pot where she was making a side dish of rice pilaf for dinner. She looked down at the cat, then looked up at her husband. "What did you do?"

"The kids have been asking for a cat for a while now. I figured it was about time."

"Just like that? I wish you'd checked with me first."

"What's the big deal?"

"Taking care of a kitten is a big responsibility, especially for Zoey. I think it's a decision we should have made together."

"It's just a kitten, Abbey. It's not like I bought a house."

"Still, you shouldn't have done it all on your own."

Irritated by her criticism, Jed snapped, "You want me to take it back?"

"That's not what I said."

He took her arm to lead her back to the stove where the girls couldn't hear them. "I'm leaving tomorrow and this time, they won't see me again for two weeks. I just wanted to do something special for them before I left."

That was a line of reasoning Abbey understood better than anyone. When she started her residency, she felt so guilty about working so much that for the first year, she, too, had showered her girls with presents on occasion. She couldn't very well blame Jed for doing the same. He would have to go through the same process she did. It would take time to get used to the changes and to rid himself of the lingering doubts he had about being apart from his family.

Meanwhile, any disapproval Abbey felt about the kitten was trampled when she turned around and saw the happy faces of her two youngest daughters. "And you did," she said to Jed. "You made their weekend."

"Is it a boy or a girl?" Ellie asked.

"A girl," Zoey answered.

"What should we name her?"

Jed spied on Zoey and Ellie for a few minutes, then addressed Abbey once again. "You're right, I should have checked with you first. I acted on impulse. We were driving back from the lesson and Zoey mentioned her classmate Julie just got a cat. I caved."

"Well...just for the record, you're the one who gets to teach them how to change the kitty litter." With a smile to assure him that she wasn't angry, Abbey returned to her rice.

* * *

That evening, Jed, Abbey, the girls, and Liz's boyfriend Scott, all adjourned to the formal dining room for a dinner of Italian-style broiled tilapia. Jed and Abbey sat at the head and foot of the table, Liz and Scott to Jed's left and Ellie and Zoey to his right.

Elizabeth expected Jed to quiz Scott on topics ranging from school to future ambitions, but that didn't happen during the first part of the meal because Scott, smart boy that he was, took Liz's advice and challenged Jed to a game of chess earlier. Those typical questions that confronted her other dates seemed to be forgotten, leaving the entire family free to engage in their usual dinner table repartee.

"Did you hear that NASA is going to put a teacher on board the space shuttle Challenger?"

Ellie turned a curious eye to her sister's boyfriend. "REALLY?"

When it was just the five of them, it was common practice for the Bartlets to discuss current events during dinner. With company, however, they allowed the guest to steer the topic of conversation. Fortunately for Ellie, Scott was just as big a science buff as she was.

"Yeah," he said. "They've already started collecting applications."

"That is so cool!"

"Ellie's very interested in the space program," Abbey informed Scott. "She's been pleading with us for years to let her go to space camp."

"She even made model rockets for her science project at school," Jed added just as he spotted Zoey lifting Ginger the cat up onto her lap. "Zoey, the kitty doesn't get to come to dinner."

"But she's hungry too."

"She can eat in the kitchen. That's where I left her food."

"But that's not fair." Zoey furrowed her brows, upset that the newest member of the family was being excluded from the gathering.

"Did you make the rockets by yourself?" Scott questioned Ellie.

"My mom and dad helped me."

"She did most of it herself though," Abbey interjected.

"I should introduce you to my parents. They're rocket scientists."

"By rocket scientists you mean..." Jed assumed that Scott was using the figurative meaning of the phrase.

"They just retired from NASA."

"You mean...seriously? They're literally rocket scientists?" He was visibly intrigued. As a successful man himself and the husband of a doctor, Jed was used to meeting accomplished people, but he had never met a rocket scientist before.

"Yeah, they are."

"And Scott wants to follow in their footsteps," Liz told her parents. "He's gonna study Aeronautical Science & Astronautical Engineering at MIT in the fall."

"You're going to MIT?"

"Yes, sir. I was recently accepted."

"So you're a senior then?" Abbey asked. "Liz forgot to mention that."

Liz shrugged. "He was home-schooled for a few years so he got to skip 8th grade. He's only a few months older than I am. It's no big deal, right?"

"No, it's not. I was just surprised, that's all."

Jed couldn't deny he was happy that Liz always seemed to fall for the brainy guys. To his delight, intellect and a penchant for advanced education were two qualities she actively searched for in a potential boyfriend.

"Daddy, I think Ginger should eat with us." Zoey tried to return everyone's attention to what she felt was the real discussion at-hand.

"I think Ginger needs to stay in the kitchen and eat her meal there."

"Mommy?"

"I agree with your dad. You can play with her after dinner."

"We're playing cards after dinner."

"Then you can play with her after that."

"But I wanna hold her now."

"Zoey." Abbey's stern voice was all it took to force Zoey to reluctantly do what she was told.

"Okay."

"You're playing cards after dinner?" That caught Scott's interest.

"Shang-hai Rummy," Ellie chimed in. "Zoey and I play on the same team because she can't really count yet."

"I can so! One, two, three, four..."

Abbey chuckled. "Zoey can count just fine."

"Anyway, she's always on my team," Ellie continued. "Mom usually wins though. I win more than Lizzie. Dad never wins. Dad's better at Monopoly."

Jed perked up at his name. "Hey, there's an idea. Maybe we'll play Monopoly later."

"Yeah!" That was Ellie's favorite game too. "Scott, do you wanna play? You and Lizzie can be on a team together."

Elizabeth raised a brow to her sister. "I already told you. It's Liz, Ellie."

"You're Lizzie around the house. Why can't you be Lizzie with company?"

"Because I'm not 10."

"There's nothing wrong with being 10." Insulted that Liz rolled her eyes, Ellie replied in a sharper tone. "There's not, LIZZIE!"

"Cool it, girls," Jed warned them both.

Ellie looked back at Scott. "Do you wanna play Monopoly? You can be on Liz's team."

"Thank you." Liz smiled forgivingly at the ten-year-old.

As an only child with two parents who were irrefutably workaholics, Scott wasn't accustomed to things like a good old-fashioned family game night. He assumed that his girlfriend wasn't either, given Jed and Abbey's chosen professions and Liz's fears about how different things were going to be once her father moved to Washington.

He was surprised to learn that not only were the Bartlets a cohesive family, they were closer than a lot of other families he had met and despite the recent changes in their lives, he admired and even envied the way they interacted with each other.

Scott looked to Liz before he answered. "We have a little while before the movie. Do you wanna hang out here?"

"Sure, if you want. It'll be fun to beat my dad at Monopoly."

Jed playfully snarked at his eldest daughter. "It's a pipe dream, Liz."

* * *

Jed relinquished his title as Monopoly champion that night - to Ellie. He claimed she just outsmarted him and in some ways, that was true. But the final play of the evening that led to Ellie's victory came from a strat uncharacteristic for Jed.

As he and Abbey took a long moonlit winter stroll through the orchard, she called him on it. "You threw that game."

"I resent the implication."

"It's not an implication. It's a straight-out accusation. You let Ellie win."

"It's her favorite game. She was bound to get too good for me."

"You didn't ask for rent."

"I told you, I forgot."

"If you say so," she snickered, convinced he was lying. Jed never forgot to collect a debt from the other players.

"You did a good job with Zoey."

"What?"

"Her shoelaces," he elaborated.

77t"Oh. She learned faster than I thought she would. I figured I'd have to work with her for months on that, but she picked it up in a week. It makes me doubt what the psychologist told us. I mean, I know she has some developmental delays, but I think, in the long run, she's going to be just fine."

"Yeah."

She slowed her pace as he slowed his and when he came to a sudden stop, she stopped with him. "Jed?"

"What the hell's the matter with us, Abbey?"

"What do you mean?"

"I'm told my daughter has this problem...this learning disability that could shape her entire life. We have to work with her in order to get her ready for kindergarten in the fall, to help her self esteem, and give her confidence in her abilities. And what do I do? I fly off to Washington."

"You were weeks away from winning the campaign when we found out about Zoey."

"Yeah. WEEKS away."

"Jed, there was nothing you could have done. Say you dropped out. Then what?"

"I would be here to help her."

"You can help her when you're home. And when you're not, you'll have to trust me to help her. I can do it."

"Of course. I wasn't trying to say..."

"Honey..." Abbey rested her gloved hands on his shoulders. "You won the election. I know what you're going through. I know the doubts and the fear. I've had them too. But you can't keep second-guessing this. The less confident we are, the less confident the kids are going to be."

"She's five years old and she needs us and I'm not going to be there most of the time. What kind of father does that make me?"

"The fact that you're asking me that question makes you exactly the kind of father they need. It makes you the kind of father I'm proud to have as my husband."

"I'm not feeling too proud of myself right now."

"It'll get easier. You're a brand new congressman and you spend most of your time on the Hill wondering what your daughters are doing at home. The girls are lucky to have you." She pulled their joined hands up to her lips so she could place a single kiss on the back of his hand. "So am I."

TBC


	5. Chapter 5

Series: Snapshots of the Past

Series: Snapshots of the Past

Story: Man of the House

Chapter 5

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Previously: Jed bought the girls a kitten which Zoey promptly named Ginger; the family met Liz's new boyfriend Scott; Jed felt guilty about being so far away from his family

Summary: Abbey faces a difficult day - the day the man who attacked her is released from prison; Liz reaches out to her mother; Robert Nolan gives Abbey some advice when he sees her struggling to juggle her responsibilities; Jed and Abbey disagree

Author's Note: Just a note to let everyone know that all the feedback is appreciated! I try to reply to most of you, but there have been a few of you who don't have a profile or published email address (Debs and Christina to name two). Therefore, I have no way of getting a hold of you to thank you, so please accept my thanks here!

* * *

While a mid-week New England snowstorm covered Manchester with a white blanket of snow, Abbey tossed and turned under her comforter, blaming the howling wind for keeping her up rather than the anxiety and stress she was feeling. It was 4 a.m. and in just a few hours, Frank Crews, the man who physically assaulted her nearly six years earlier, would be free to roam the streets.

She was ready for this day. In the back of her mind, she knew it would eventually come and though the thought of the monster who grabbed her in the hospital parking lot and tried to kill her returning to society was almost too crippling to contemplate at times, she had forced herself to deal with it in order to rid herself of the fear that gripped her senses back then.

The Bartlets had installed an alarm system before Christmas, one that came with motion detectors to trap intruders the second they set foot on the property, before they even reached the house. In preparation for Crews's first night out of prison, Jed had also arranged for his brother Jack to spy on Abbey and the girls, but that plan was nixed after Abbey found out.

She didn't want bodyguards, she explained to her husband. The stipulation of Crews's parole would ground him to his community in Hanover, so she argued that it was unnecessary and useless. That didn't stop Jed from worrying though. As Abbey squirmed in bed, checking the clock every few minutes, Jed called her from Washington.

"Hey, babe," she answered.

He furrowed his brows. "How'd you know it was me?"

"I know your ring." She heard him laugh at that. "It's four o'clock. How'd you know I'd be up?"

"The same way you knew it was me calling." How could she think he didn't know her as well as she knew him? "How are you doing?"

"I'm fine."

"I can come home, you know. I can be there in two hours."

"Don't be silly. You're getting committee assignments today. That's the most important thing you'll do all month."

"You're more important than that."

"We've already talked about this. I told you, the girls and I are perfectly safe."

"Then why aren't you asleep?"

"Because I was waiting for you to call."

Settled in under the covers and leaning on two pillows against her headboard, Abbey's anxiety melted away with Jed's voice. Even though they were 500 miles apart, he could still comfort her as if she was cuddled up in his masculine arms.

* * *

"Mom?" Liz knocked on the open door of the master bedroom where Abbey was getting ready for work. "Do these shoes match this skirt?"

"Yeah, they look good."

"And the hair?" She ran her fingers through the upward flip at the end of her chestnut locks.

Abbey hesitated slightly. "I like it better curled under. You want me to play with it?"

"Could you?" Liz sat on the bed while her mother took a round brush to her shiny tresses.

"Did you get a chance to fix the hem on my red skirt?"

"Sorry, Lizzie, I forgot."

"It's okay. Do you think you'll have time before Saturday? I want to wear it to the movies with Scott."

"I'll make time."

"Thanks," she replied. "Mom?"

"Yeah?"

"He's not gonna look for you. I know you've thought about that. He's not going to look for you." It was a bold statement, not a question, and Liz's confidence upstaged Abbey's until she added, "Right?"

Abbey stopped what she was doing. There was no doubt that Liz surprised her with that one. She approached her daughter from the side, forcing the girl to face her. "How do you know what's going on?"

"It came up during the campaign. I looked up the date of release."

Always resourceful, Abbey thought. She should have known that Liz would have done her homework, that she would have followed through on things she picked up while working on Jed's campaign.

She hadn't told the girls about Crews's impending release because to tell them of his release would mean telling them about his crime. She didn't want to scare them. Ellie barely remembered the frightening summer months of 1979 and Zoey wasn't even born yet. But Elizabeth, there was no denying that Liz was the daughter most deeply affected by Crews's actions and, therefore, the one most interested in his whereabouts.

"No, he's not going to come looking for me," Abbey started as she returned to the task of brushing the teen's hair.

"That's what I thought."

"With all the enemies he's made in and out of prison, I'm the least of his worries right now. Besides, the only reason he targeted me in the first place was because I counseled ex-girlfriend and last I heard, she was married and living in New York. There's no reason for him to come after me."

"Good." Liz let out a sigh of relief. "There's this rally that UNH is holding in April. It's called Take Back The Night. It's for victims of violence and abuse."

"I remember those from college. We used to sponsor one every year."

"My high school is doing it too...it's part of the Prom Promise curriculum. Student government is helping UNH set it up."

"Are you involved in that?"

"Sort of. I'm helping to get the word out and I'm in charge of the junior class assembly during prom week. We're going to publish brochures and distribute flyers to try to get people to come. It's important, don't you think?"

"I do. And I'm proud of you for being involved in it."

"It's something I believe in. Did you know that violent crime is up around the country from where it was ten years ago?"

"Did your dad tell you that?"

Liz shook her head. "I didn't ask him for crime statistics. I've never really thought about it before."

"Why are you thinking about it now?"

"Because it bugs me that someone can hurt someone else so badly and only spend five years in jail," she said angrily. "It's not right."

Abbey set the brush down and ran her hands over Liz's silky soft hair. It wasn't often that she thought about the night she was attacked. She intentionally tried to focus on other things, but no matter what, she could never manage to block it from her mind completely. It wasn't even the pain of the assault or the psychological trauma that kept beating at her. It was the consequences of the crime and the effect it had on her family. That's what haunted her even now.

"Are you all right, Lizzie?"

"Yeah."

"Do you want to talk?"

"What's there to talk about?" Liz stood up.

"Whatever you want."

Once again, she shook her head. "I have to get my books. It's getting late."

"Liz?" As Liz responded to her name, Abbey backed down, unwilling to push her into this particular topic of conversation just before school. "I'll see you downstairs."

Elizabeth was only 11 at the time of Abbey's attack and in spite of the fact that they tried to shield her from the details, Jed and Abbey knew that she didn't escape the emotional rollercoaster of the aftermath unscathed. Liz never denied it. Although she usually avoided the topic - much like her mother - today, she found herself unable to hide her feelings.

She paused when she hit the doorway, turning back around with open arms meant for Abbey. "I love you, Mom."

Abbey couldn't remember the last time Liz had hugged her so fiercely. She didn't hear any crying or see any tears, but she did feel Liz's grip tighten quite a few times during that special embrace.

"I love you too, Baby Doll." She tucked a lock of hair behind Liz's ear after she gently pulled away. "We've all come a long way in the past five years."

"I still think he should have been locked up for longer."

"He got what he got. We can't change it."

"Because of the plea bargain?"

"Yeah." Feeling she'd have to explain, Abbey's tone suddenly sounded apologetic. "I didn't fight the plea bargain because..."

"I know," Liz interrupted. "I heard Dad talking about it in a press interview during the campaign. The plea bargain was the best deal."

"You sound pretty sure about that."

"I thought about it a lot and I think the problem wasn't with the plea bargain, but with the sentencing that came with the charge. People like him - the ones who do what he did - shouldn't get off so easy."

"No, they shouldn't. That's a problem with our legal system."

"Someone should fix those problems. Maybe someday, I'll be a lawyer or a legislator so I can change it."

"You'd make an excellent lawyer."

"I've been thinking about it."

"Have you?" Abbey already knew she was considering it. Jed had told her after his chat with Liz in the paddock, but she played dumb to allow Liz the chance to tell her herself.

"It's between pre-law and public policy. What do you think?"

"I think those are outstanding choices. Just one little piece of advice."

"What's that?"

She wrapped her arm around her daughter's shoulder as the pair headed for the door. "Stick pre-med in there so that I know it was at least in the running and I'll be happy no matter what you choose."

"In name only. I'm not doing any of the science stuff in college. Dissections totally gross me out!"

* * *

"Zoey, you're not allowed to use the stove!" From her seat at the kitchen table, Ellie admonished her little sister just as Zoey reached for the dial.

"But I'm hungry and Mommy's upstairs."

Abbey and Liz heard her words from around the corner. As they approached the kitchen, Abbey picked up her pace, then announced her presence to the elated preschooler.

"Here I am, Zoey. What does everyone want for breakfast?"

"Can we have pancakes?" Ellie asked.

"Pancakes coming right up!" Abbey opened the refrigerator door only to peer over it to address her daughters. "What happened to the milk?"

"Ginger was thirsty." Zoey sat on the floor, petting her kitten as the furry feline slurped at her milk.

"Oh, I forgot about Ginger."

"How could you FORGET about Ginger?" The concept was foreign to Zoey. To her, Ginger was just like any other member of the family.

"It's been a long week."

"But Ginger's one of us. You wouldn't forget us, would you?"

"No, Zoey, I wouldn't. But you've been in my life a lot longer than Ginger has, right?" She appealed to Zoey's sense of logic, knowing that was the only way to get herself off the hook.

"Right." The five-year-old accepted that answer with a smile that Abbey returned.

When that was settled, she turned her attention back to Ellie. "It looks like we have a problem. I didn't stop at the market so we don't have any milk."

"No pancakes then," Ellie concluded.

Because Abbey had stayed late at the hospital on emergency cases the past two nights, it left little time for cooking and shopping, so she neglected those chores in favor of helping her daughters with homework before bed. She mentally kicked herself for it though. When Jed was around, those kinds of choices didn't exist. Whatever had to get done would get done, if not by one parent, then by the other.

"How about some eggs instead?" she asked, hopeful that the girls would settle for the same breakfast they had most often.

"We have eggs all the time."

"I'll scramble them up with sliced hot dogs. I know how much you like it that way."

Disinterested, Ellie agreed anyway. "Okay."

"No cereal either?" Zoey wanted to know.

"No," Ellie answered. "We don't have milk, Zo. That means no cereal, no pancakes, no..."

"We get the picture, El." Liz searched the fridge once her mother was out of the way. "We have leftover pizza from last night!"

"Forget it." Abbey wasn't about to let them dine on cold delivery pizza for breakfast.

"There's only one slice anyway."

"What's wrong with eggs?"

"We had them yesterday," Liz reminded her.

"So we'll have them again today and then tomorrow, we'll have pancakes." Abbey retrieved the frying pan and a bowl to scramble the eggs.

"Do we have to?"

"There's no other alternative, Elizabeth."

"I could just grab something on the way to school."

"Like what?"

"I bet I can hit the McDonald's drive-thru in record time this early in the morning." Liz tossed her sunglasses into her backpack and snatched her keys off the counter.

"Cool, Lizzie, will you take me?"

"Me too?"

As Zoey and Ellie jumped to their feet to follow their teenage sister, Abbey stepped in front of them to stop the trio in their tracks. "I'm saying no to McDonald's."

"Mom!" Liz and Ellie pleaded together.

Staring back at their disappointed faces, Abbey replied, "Go get your things for school. We're going to Friendly's for breakfast."

* * *

While the unexpected trip to Friendly's thrilled the girls, it also meant that Abbey's workday started nearly an hour behind schedule. The sound of her heels clacking against the tile echoed throughout the fourth floor of the medical building as she sped to her office in such a hurry that she ran right into Robert Nolan in her doorway.

"Whoa, slow down," he said when they collided.

"Are you looking for me?" She walked around him to toss her soft leather briefcase on top of her desk.

"I was. I wanted to talk to you." He waited for her to hang her coat on her coat rack before he began. "You're late."

"I know, I'm sorry. I was here so late last night, I forgot to stop by the grocery store. The girls had nothing to eat for breakfast."

"It's not a problem. The interns are rounding with Dr. Johnson, so we're good."

"Good."

"Abbey, have you considered getting some help since Jed is away?"

"Some help?" She had no idea what he was implying.

"Like a housekeeper?"

"Oh. I haven't really, no."

"It's something to think about. Karen and I have one who comes by once a week, straightens up, does the grocery shopping, things like that."

"I don't need a housekeeper." She rejected the notion instantly as she took her seat.

"Why? Because you didn't need one when Jed was here?" He knew exactly what she was thinking. "When Jed was here, there were two of you."

"So I forgot to buy the milk one time. It doesn't mean I can't pull this off by myself."

"Of course it doesn't. I'm not doubting your ability. I'm just suggesting, as your friend, to take some of the pressure off yourself and let someone else do something for you from time to time."

Abbey rested her chin on the little pyramid she had formed with her hands. "Robert, I'm working in Manchester now. I moved my entire practice just so I could be there for my daughters. Hiring a housekeeper would undermine that. It would..."

"Be practical?" He took a seat in the chair across from her desk. "What do you mean it would undermine it? Why do you think that hiring a housekeeper would take away from you being there for your daughters?"

"Because...I'm the mom. It's my job to take care of them."

"Everyone in this hospital knows that you're fantastic mom, Abbey. But you're human. Raising three kids is tough enough. Doing it as a surgeon while your husband is 500 miles away during the workweek is damn-near impossible."

"I'm not convinced that's true. Jed did it just fine while I was in residency."

"Jed didn't have the kind of hours you have. Jed also wasn't on-call one night a week."

He was right about that. The plan was mapped out in her head and if her schedule had been as predictable as Jed's was at Dartmouth, there would have been no reason Abbey couldn't make it work. But it wasn't the same. There were going to be days that she couldn't leave the hospital at 6 o'clock. There were going to be times when working all night was a very real possibility.

For those nights, she had a contingency plan when it came to the girls. Abbey had already arranged for their neighbor, Judy Weaver, to sit with them if she ended up working too late. What she didn't have a plan for was all the other things - the household responsibilities that she refused to dump on Elizabeth. She couldn't deny that Robert's advice made sense.

"Look, I'm merely suggesting looking into hiring someone to make sure all the little things get done on your call nights," he said. "Having that extra person there, even once a week, has worked great for me and Karen and we don't even have children."

"I'll think about it," Abbey agreed. It wasn't just to placate him either. His idea had merit. "Is that what you wanted to talk to me about?"

"No. I came by to ask how you're doing."

Remembering exactly why he was asking, her expression softened. It was just like Robert to remember the date of Crews's release from prison. "I'm doing great."

"Are you sure? I can come over tonight if you want."

"I'm fine."

"I could camp out on your couch, make sure everything's okay."

"And then what? Are you going to show up tomorrow night too? And the night after that? And the night after that?"

"If you want me to. Eventually though, Karen's gonna get suspicious. I might have to bring her along."

Abbey smiled. "Thanks, but it's not necessary."

"Well, that's a standing offer. If you change your mind..."

"Thank you, Robert."

"And call me tonight if you need anything, okay?"

"I will."

Robert threw her a parting glance on his way out of her office. "If you reconsider hiring a housekeeper, I've got a name for you - Mrs. Wilburforce. She's great."

"Get outta here." Abbey chuckled at his persistence as she followed him so she could close her door.

* * *

"A housekeeper?" Jed questioned that tidbit of advice later that evening. Lounging in bed, he quizzed his wife. "You think we need a housekeeper?"

"I'm saying Robert thinks it might be a good idea."

"Robert doesn't live in our house."

"No, he doesn't." Abbey couldn't argue with that. She was snuggled up in a red and gold oversized comforter, her elbow resting on her pillow, propping up her head.

"Do you want a housekeeper?" He was greeted with silence. "Abbey?"

"Do I WANT one? No. Have I been thinking about it all day, wondering if maybe it would be better for the kids if we had one? Yes. Tonight was the first time I went grocery shopping in a week, I forgot to fix Lizzie's skirt last night, I ran out of time to check Ellie's math homework at breakfast today because we had to go out to eat."

"It sounds like you just had a rough day."

"It's optimistic to think there won't be other nights when I'm going to be working late, especially call nights, which means there are more 'rough days' to come."

"Do I detect a little snippiness?" he asked lightheartedly, referring to her sarcastic inflection when she repeated his phrase.

"Not at you. I'm just tired. I barely slept last night." She took a beat before continuing. "Although I do think you're being short-sighted about this. You're dismissing it without giving it a chance."

"I listened to the idea. I think it's a bad one. If things need to get done, ask Liz to help."

"She does help. She spent most of last night helping Ellie with her book report before I got home. Of course, that meant she didn't finish up her own homework until 10 o'clock. She's not a parent to her sisters. It's unfair to expect her to be."

"So then why do we have to go over the pros and cons of this? It sounds to me like you've already made up your mind. You want a housekeeper."

"What I want is for us to decide - together - if we'd like to hire someone to come by a couple of times a week to help out."

"That's not a real housekeeper."

"Why isn't it?"

"Housekeepers are...they're like Alice whatever the hell her last name was. You say you want a housekeeper, I'm picturing someone to live with us, in our house, and help us take care of the girls like we're the Brady Bunch or something."

"That's definitely not what I mean," Abbey assured him. "Anyway, having someone help us look after the girls doesn't make us bad parents, does it? We did that in my first year of residency when Ellie was little. We hired a nanny. Remember Paige?"

"Paige was a glorified babysitter. She was there to keep Lizzie company for an hour or two after school until we got home from work."

"It was a little more than that," she told him. Jed did have a knack for forgetting pesky details when they didn't jibe with the Currier and Ives images in his head.

"She wasn't a live-in either." That part was true. "I don't have a problem with that kind of thing."

"Then what is it you're objecting to?"

"Passing our daughters off to some stranger. That's what I have a problem with."

"You don't think I have a problem with that?"

"I'm not saying you don't."

"So if you know that I would never suggest we hire someone to take care of the girls for us, then let me ask you again. What is it you're objecting to?"

"At the moment, I'm objecting to this conversation. It's obviously going nowhere."

Abbey pulled down her elbow and laid her head against the pillow. "Fine. Let's table it until the weekend so we can discuss it in person."

"That sounds like a great idea."

A few awkward moments passed between them until Jed finally broke the ice.

"So..." was all he could manage.

"Talk to me about committee assignments," Abbey replied.

"You don't want to know."

"Tell me."

He took a breath and sighed. "Committee on Education and Labor, Committee on Foreign Affairs, Committee on Natural Resources, and Committee on Joint Taxation."

"Education and labor sounds good, taxation is right up your alley, foreign affairs will give you some foreign policy experience. That can't be a bad thing. Natural resources?"

"Exactly."

"No agriculture?" The Agriculture Committee seemed to be lobbying for Jed from the moment he took the oath of office.

"They must have realized I don't know anything about agriculture."

"You live on a farm."

"When was the last time you saw me out on the tractor?"

Abbey laughed. "Good point."

"Thank you," he replied. "Did you check the alarm?"

"Yeah. It's set. The doors and windows are all locked."

"If anything should happen - not just tonight, but any night - if you need anything at all, Jack can be over there in a heartbeat."

"I know." She tugged on the covers and rolled to her side. "Jed?"

"Yeah?"

"Will you stay with me until I fall asleep?"

"I wouldn't be anywhere else." His soothing voice lulled her to sleep that night.

As the sun came up over the horizon the next morning, the first sound that Abbey heard was Jed's breathing on the phone. It was the sweetest, most peaceful sound in the world and she missed it so much that she didn't even bother to wake him. She just laid there, listening to the man she loved and wishing for the physical contact she longed for these days.

TBC


	6. Chapter 6

Series: Snapshots of the Past

Series: Snapshots of the Past

Story: Man of the House

Chapter 6

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Previously: Liz reached out to her mother on the day the man who attacked Abbey was released from prison; Robert Nolan suggested Abbey hire a housekeeper

Summary: Jed and Abbey attend an Inaugural Ball; Jed surprises Abbey

Rating: NC-17

* * *

"Oooohhhh, Abbbeeeyyy. Oh God, that feels good. Yes, right there! Don't stop. Don't ever, ever stop."

"You are so tight."

Jed was lying flat on his stomach on the bed, moaning as Abbey - dressed only in an oversized Harvard t-shirt and panties - straddled him to massage his naked back. He was wearing a pair of silk boxers which she had managed to slip down far enough to give her a peek at the top of his sexy rear.

"No hanky panky until you make this pain go away," he warned, wincing when she rubbed a little too hard.

"And you suggest I do that how if you won't take your back pills?"

"Use those magic fingers of yours, Doc."

The pain had been building since a marathon sexcapade on Friday, Abbey's first night in Washington. It was Monday now - Inauguration Day in the nation's capital - and during the morning of parade festivities, Jed had run out of steam. So the couple retired to their Porter Street apartment to try to relieve his pain before the inaugural balls.

"I mean it, Jed. You really are very tight." Abbey dug her fingers into his flesh to loosen his muscles. At the same time, her eyes glazed over an article in The Washington Post that Jed had left open beside her.

"Must be because of all those extracurricular activities the last few days," he said, grinning. "I don't know what it is about D.C. that gets you so randy."

"It's not D.C. It's just you."

"I never get tired of hearing you say that, my flexible little dumpling."

"Don't ever call me that in public."

"Flexible?"

"Dumpling," she corrected as Jed chuckled.

"But flexible's okay, right?" He clenched when she squeezed his shoulder once again. "OW! Abbey, what the hell?"

His yelp took her attention away from her article. "Sorry."

"What the hell are you reading?"

"My reading had nothing to do with that. I just got carried away."

"Yeah, so you say, but that's the second time you've done that in the past five minutes. So, again, what the hell are you reading?"

"A story about a woman who cheated on her husband and was caught in a rather amusing way. Guess who ratted her out."

"The butler."

"Only in the Clue mansion."

"Since when does the Post do tabloid journalism anyway?"

"It's not tabloid. It's an interesting side column that goes with a relevant story about marriage in the '80s. Are you going to guess?"

"I give up. Who ratted her out?"

"Her pet parrot. The traitoress little fellow imitated the sounds that came out of her during her sexual encounters with her lover. He even shouted out the lover's name during his imitation of the climax."

"The parrot told the husband?"

"Yep!" Her brow arching conspiringly, she asked, "Should we get you a parrot, Jethro?"

"If you think a bird is going to keep the ladies out of my bachelor pad..." Jed was quick to reply, leaving the last part of his statement dangling without a conclusion.

"Your bachelor pad." Abbey dismissed the dreaded phrase with a shake of her head. "And by ladies, I assume you mean the trollops who will no doubt be lured by a handsome, powerful new man in town who they think will pay them a dime's worth of attention if they prance around like the wanton sluts they are?"

"MEOW!"

Jed knew that would light her fire, which was why he said what he did. It was fun to see that glimpse of jealousy that reared its head now and then. He enjoyed provoking her in this kind of silly discourse because neither of them took it seriously.

Abbey expected that Jed would have his admirers in Washington. She assumed that women would find him as charming and handsome as she did, but she trusted him with all her heart. That's because she knew Jed. She knew that fidelity wasn't just a word he recited in their wedding vows. It was a sacred promise that he would never, ever break. As much as he loved her, Jed couldn't imagine ever finding comfort in someone else's bed and if he ever did, he knew he'd lose Abbey forever.

So engaging her in this kind of hypothetical scenario to get a reaction like the one he got was harmless to him because it was never going to happen. And since she knew that, Abbey played along.

"Okay, maybe 'wanton slut' was harsh, but overall, I speak the truth and you know it."

"What truth is that?"

"Any woman who sees that wedding ring and still thinks she has a chance with you is a woman lacking something in the morality department."

Without warning, Jed reached behind him to grab her wrist and force her over to the side. Abbey collapsed on the mattress beside him, laughing hysterically as he climbed on top of her and tickled her unmercifully for the next few seconds. Captivated by her beauty, he stopped to stroke her cheek with the palm of his hand.

"Lucky for us, the only woman I hope is lured by this allegedly handsome and powerful man, is you." He kissed her.

"Don't get me all hot," she said, kissing him back. "We have to go soon."

"We have an hour."

"Forty-three minutes."

"Then I'll just work fast..." His sentence was broken by her wandering hand roaming down his body to cup his swelling shaft covered by the fabric of his boxers. "Apparently, so will you, you naughty little vixen!"

Jed scooped her up by sliding his arms under her back and lifting her to him. He pinned her under a passionate assault of kisses until he felt a bit of resistance, but he was thrilled after he discovered it was just because she was trying to lift her t-shirt over head and throw it to the foot of the bed.

"That's better," she said with her arm hooked around his neck to bring him closer to her.

Abbey arched her back as Jed continued down her body, over the smooth mounds of her breasts, towards her stomach. When he reached the bottom of her belly, he paused, then slipped his fingers under the elastic of her panties and rolled them slowly down the length of her silky soft legs.

"Now THAT'S better." He stared at her, waiting for him with her legs bent and her knees locked together. Placing one hand on each knee, he gently pulled them apart and glided his fingers down her inner thighs until he reached the tantalizing triangle at her center, her most intimate secrets hidden by a thin nest of brown curls that he twirled lovingly around his fingers.

Abbey was lost in the moment. Her breath caught in her throat as she pushed her hips towards him, inviting him to touch her, needing to feel a part of him inside her. Jed watched her reaction. Her eyes, a sea of jades brimming with anticipation, widened to twice their normal size as he sank down and blew his hot breath across her sex.

His finger teased her opening, the tip sliding inside of her to give her a taste of what was yet to come. When he replaced that finger with his mouth, he felt her muscles twitching around him. Abbey cried out for him, her own fingers now tangled helplessly in his hair as she felt the stubble on his chin between her legs while his tongue penetrated her over and over again and his lips sucked ever so slightly on the tender and swollen flesh that guarded her entrance.

* * *

Forty-five minutes later, Jed and Abbey rushed out of the shower together. Just as Abbey predicted, they were running late. Jed practically jumped into his pants while a frazzled Abbey removed the towel covering her head to run her blowdryer over her damp hair.

"There's a stain on my shirt!" Jed shouted loud enough for her to hear, he thought.

"What?" He was wrong.

"My shirt!" He held up his white tuxedo shirt to show her the tiny light beige make-up stain on the collar. "Look, it's stained!"

Abbey turned off the blowdryer. "What is that? I can barely see it."

"I assume it's from our dance at the black-tie fundraiser in Boston. You got a little bit of powder or foundation on it, remember?"

"Why didn't you have it cleaned?"

"Did you not see me just pull it out of the dry-cleaning bag? They must have missed it since it's so small."

"No one's going to think it's make-up, you know." She couldn't resist a little ribbing. "They'll just think you're a slob."

"Come on, Abbey. Do what you do."

"Get me my purse."

She rummaged through her belongings and pulled out a bottle of white-out which she carefully administered to the stain, blending it in with a make-up sponge until the outline disappeared. Jed gave her a kiss for her efforts, then left her alone while she finished her hair. Once she was done, she searched her duffel bag for shoes she had yet to unpack.

"The slingbacks with rhinestones or the silver ankle straps?" she asked her husband as she held up two different pairs of clear shoes.

"You know I hate when you ask me about shoes." He pointed to the ones dangling in her right hand. "Those."

"The slingbacks?"

"Yeah, those, whatever they are."

She stared at the slingbacks, then at the ankle straps, then back at the slingbacks. "I'd rather wear the ankle straps."

"Then why are you asking me?"

"I was hoping you'd agree."

"I never know what to say when you ask me about shoes." Jed slipped into his shirt. "How many shoes did you bring with you anyway?"

"Just five pairs."

"And how many feet do you have?" He cruised over to the closet, his unbuttoned shirt giving her a view of his masculine chest.

"Okay, okay."

"You see what I have in here? Three pairs of shoes, total." He held up a pair of leather wingtips. "One for work..." Next was a pair of tennis shoes. "One for play..." Finally, he showed her the shoes he'd wear that night. "And one for things like Inaugural balls."

"You're not a woman. Women judge what other women have on their feet." She cocked her brow at him as she sat on the edge of the bed to dry the moisture off her leg and slide them into a pair of nude pantyhose.

"Doesn't your ball gown cover your feet?"

"Yes."

"Then who's going to know what you shoes you wear?"

"I'll know."

"So you're worried about judging yourself?"

"Jed."

"Yeah?" Jed did love to tease his family. Liz usually bore the brunt of his comebacks because she enjoyed them the most, but he wasn't above annoying his wife from time to time.

Secretly amused, but unwilling to admit it, Abbey tightened her posture and shot him a warning glare. "What's the matter with you?"

"Who really knows?"

She stood to stuff her hosed feet into a pair of slippers as she headed to the closet to retrieve her strapless black lace corset and pull it up over her taut body. "So when do you start legislating?"

"As soon as we get all our ducks in a row."

"What does that mean?"

"In Hill-speak, it means we have to wait until all the first-month kinks are worked out and we've all been briefed on the agenda and the bills that were sandbagged in committee last session. In reality, it means we start as soon as we find a way to manipulate the Republicans into giving us what we want."

"Politics." She shook her head. "All the game-playing, the 'I did you a favor and now you owe me one' mentality every single day. I don't know how you do it."

"I'm not quite sure myself." He coiled his bowtie around his neck, but didn't bother to try to tie it. "But we haven't hit the hard stuff yet. That's up next."

"As in?"

"Tonight."

"What do you mean tonight?" she asked as she gathered her auburn tresses and pulled them into a French twist. "It's the Inaugural Ball. Can't it be politics-free?"

He snickered. "You're so cute."

That earned him a sudden burst of wind from the blowdryer. "I wonder if you'd consider losing the patronizing jackass attitude if I told you I might just not go tonight?"

Jed smoothed his windblown hair with a good-natured laugh. "All I mean is that it's Washington. By definition, the Beltway is never politics-free. Sure, we'll dance and we'll mingle and we'll have a good time, all the while we'll be hammering out a few compromises behind the cameras to get us through the next two weeks."

"I can hardly wait." Abbey handed him her gown so he could help her get into it. Ordinarily, she wouldn't need his help, but since this dress had no zipper, it was up to him to hold the laces while she climbed in, then tie them up her back.

"God, Abbey, the men are going to be ogling you all night." Once she was tied and ready to go, he dipped her ruby necklace over her head and around her neck, fastening it behind her. "Make sure you take your coat."

"I wasn't planning on wearing a coat. The gown comes with a wrap."

"I didn't say you had to wear it. Just take it. Otherwise, you'll be cold."

"Excuse me, is this Jed Bartlet complaining about the cold?"

"Not for me. For you. You get cold a whole 30 degrees before I do."

"We're going from the car to the ballroom. I think I can handle the winter chill for that short a distance."

"We have plans afterwards."

"What plans?"

"What do you care? Just take your coat."

She gave him a sly grin as she tied his bowtie for him, then flung her brown mink coat over her arm on their way out.

* * *

The Congressional Ball at the Capital Hilton surpassed Abbey's expectations of elegance. The Bartlets weren't naive and inexperienced. They had danced in the presence of Kings in Sweden and they had been invited to some of the ritziest political fundraisers and personal parties thrown by the most affluent members American society. Yet, when they crossed the flowered arch of the ball, Abbey was awestruck at what she saw.

From the rose-lined dance floor that hosted a string of lights glowing from inside the petals to the Navy band that serenaded the crowd with a melody of patriotic and romantic tunes to the colorful array of red, white, and blue ball gowns on the women that rustled against the black tie and tails on the shoulders of the men, it all took her breath away.

She wore a strapless crimson gown, one that was lightly accented with a beautiful mix of crimson and red Austrian crystals, blending exquisitely with the color of the fabric. Her arms were warmed with a matching satin cape fastened with a rhinestone buckle across the front.

Because her hair was pulled into a French twist, a cluster of genuine rubies could easily be seen on the laces that Jed had tied on her zipperless back, catching the attention of the crowd after the clerk took her wrap and Jed ushered her through a line of senators, representatives, and other dignitaries on the way to the dance floor.

"You want to dance already?" Abbey questioned him. "We just got here."

"Humor me. I got this sudden urge to show you off when I realized everyone was staring at you."

"They were not."

"Didn't you see their faces when we walked in?"

"I think you're imagining things."

"I'm not imagining this. You're the most gorgeous woman in the room."

He pulled her close, dancing with her cheek-to-cheek to an instrumental version of Elvis Presley's Can't Help Falling In Love With You. Abbey gripped him tightly, taking in his scent and closing her eyes to savor this dance forever.

In that moment, it felt like they were all alone. In a sense, they were. They swayed with the kind of grace that pushed their bodies into a rhythm the other couples just couldn't match. They moved in a way that betrayed their innocent smiles and allowed everyone a glimpse at the romantic energy between them. It was sexy, the way they held each other as if locked in an eternal embrace, unable to part and unwilling to try.

One by one, the other couples moved out of the spotlight as all eyes turned to the new couple in town - Congressman Bartlet and his wife, Abbey.

* * *

When the ball drew to a close around midnight, Jed and Abbey waited for their car. The valet curved the lot, then parked in front of them, but Jed held his wife's hand so she couldn't get in. He took her coat out of the back and sent the man off again.

Confused, Abbey looked to her husband for answers. "What's going on?"

"I told you. We have other plans." He gestured to the white horse-drawn carriage that was approaching them.

"You didn't."

Jed picked up a bouquet of two-dozen red roses that were sitting on her seat. He handed them to her with a smile. "I did."

Abbey took in the scent of the flowers, then accepted his help climbing in to the carriage. "I can't believe you did this."

They began a moonlit ride through the streets of Washington, D.C., holding hands under a shower of light snow. Romantic as it was, Abbey couldn't fight the chill she felt from the blistering January wind. She released Jed's hand and tightened her coat around herself, shivering.

"You're cold."

"Kind of."

"Come here." He opened his arms wide, so wide that he was able to envelope her into an embrace so tight that he warmed her instantly with his own body heat.

Her legs were crossed at her knees and her gown had risen up past her ankles, revealing the clear ankle-strapped shoes she wore. He had noticed the straps before, but he hadn't really paid attention to the silver ribbon that overlapped as it climbed from the straps to a few inches up her calf. He stared at them silently until Abbey caught him spying her feet.

"What?" she asked.

"Nothing."

"The shoes?"

Jed nodded. "They do look great."

"I thought they would."

"You did not. You asked me which ones you should wear."

"That's right."

"So if you already knew, then why did you ask me?"

"I didn't know until I asked you. Don't you get how this works? When it comes to shoes, you're clueless, so I ask you for your opinion and whichever you choose, I wear the opposite."

"Oh, is that the deal?" Still holding her in his arms to keep her warm, he turned his head away from her and stared out of the carriage. "Well, I guess we'll see what happens the next time you decide to play those little mind games."

Jed wasn't really upset and Abbey knew it, but she indulged him anyway. Her head leaning on his shoulder, she sat up to respond.

"Aw, don't pout, babe. That's going to ruin things for later." She tucked her hand under his chin until he turned again to face her.

"Okay, but do me a favor?"

"Anything."

"Later..." he whispered. "Wear the shoes."

"And nothing else," Abbey promised as she leaned in to kiss him.

TBC


	7. Chapter 7

Series: Snapshots of the Past

Series: Snapshots of the Past

Story: Man of the House

Chapter 7

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Previously: Jed and Abbey attended the congressional Inaugural Ball

Summary: Abbey has her hands full with the girls

* * *

On a cold, snowy evening in February, Abbey and Ellie stood at the kitchen counter sprinkling grated cheese over the diced chicken and white rice casserole they had prepared for dinner together. Though she was still considering hiring a housekeeper to keep up with the grocery shopping and other minor errands, cooking was something Abbey wasn't willing to give up, especially since it gave her yet another opportunity to bond with her daughters.

In the month since Jed had been sworn in as a United States congressman, things had gradually changed in the Bartlet household. Abbey and the girls, who were once used to lively family breakfasts at the kitchen table, now found themselves with too little time to share their morning meal on the weekdays.

Abbey blamed this on the fact that some days, she had early morning rounds, which meant Ellie and Liz had to get themselves ready for school while she dropped Zoey off at the sitter's before pre-school. She always prepared a nutritional breakfast for her two older daughters, but she wasn't home to encourage them to eat together, so Liz and Ellie, frequently running late, perfected the art of scarfing down their food on their way out the door.

The habit was a tough one to break and as the days went on, it became clear to Abbey that when it came to picking her battles with her three strong-willed daughters, breakfast wouldn't be a top priority as long as they all agreed to come together at the end of the day to have dinner as a family.

On this particular night, it was Ellie's turn to assist her mother in the kitchen, a job the fifth grader didn't consider to be a chore. "Can I pour some tomato sauce over the top?"

"Lizzie doesn't like tomato sauce," Abbey reminded her before she fetched a can of it from the pantry. "Only on half."

"Thanks."

As Ellie used a spoon to spread the sauce conservatively on a tiny portion of the casserole, Abbey flipped through a stack of recently opened mail that sat on the table. One particular envelope caught her attention and after she examined it, she left the kitchen, waving it in her hand.

"Liz?" she called upstairs. "Come down here please."

Dressed in a pair of torn gray sweats that she only wore when she was feeling sick, Elizabeth sluggishly made her way down the steps with Zoey hot on her heels. "Yeah?"

"What's the matter?"

"I was trying to take a nap."

"Why?"

"I don't feel so great."

"Come here." Abbey put the back of her hand to her forehead. "You don't have a fever. What hurts?"

"My throat. I'm tired and Zoey won't leave me alone."

"I wanna wear her white bow for school tomorrow and she won't let me," Zoey complained, thinking she'd get some sympathy from Abbey.

"No, I won't," Liz confirmed. "Because she always ruins things."

"I do not!"

Abbey raised her hands to stop her feuding daughters long enough to address Liz. "I just have one question and then you can go back to bed. Do you want to tell me why you got a parking ticket in my car about six weeks ago and didn't bother to tell me about it?"

"Oh yeah. I was Christmas shopping downtown and I lost track of time. The meter went over by like 10 minutes."

"Liz, you should have told me."

"I forgot, Mom. I'm sorry."

"Are there any other surprises? Is there anything else you've forgotten to tell me?"

"She got a speeding ticket," Zoey volunteered.

"Zoey!" Liz shot her an angry stare. "Mom, you have to do something about Zoey. She always invades my privacy."

"I do not!"

"Then how did you know about the ticket?"

"I just did."

Ellie, who heard the commotion from the kitchen, joined the threesome to offer her two cents. "You're not supposed to blab stuff like that to people, Zo."

"I didn't blab to people! I blabbed to Mommy!"

"That's because you're a tattletale."

"Enough!" Abbey intervened. "Quit ganging up on your sister. Right now, I'm more concerned with when Elizabeth got the ticket."

Liz confessed with a sigh, "Last night when I was taking Mindy home."

"How fast were you going?"

"Seventeen over."

"All right." Abbey said calmly. "Go get your car keys."

"No, Mom..."

"Liz, we've been through this. If you're not going to drive responsibly, you're not going to drive at all. Go get your car keys."

"I didn't realize I was driving too fast."

"Keys now." Abbey extended her arm, palm-side up, until Liz retrieved her car keys and placed them in her hand. "Thank you."

"How long?"

"I don't know."

"The weekend's coming up. How am I supposed to get anywhere?"

"You don't have to worry about that since you won't be going anywhere."

"Because of a speeding ticket?"

"Partially. And partially because I had to find out about it from Zoey."

"I was going to tell you. When I got home last night, you were getting ready for bed. I know how tired you are the end of the day, so I thought it could wait."

"You thought wrong. And don't use your concern for me as an excuse. You didn't tell me last night and you didn't tell me this morning because you wanted to postpone my finding out about it until your father came home for the weekend."

It amazed Liz how well Abbey knew her sometimes. "I figured I'd tell you both at the same time."

"If you think he's going to be more lenient about this, you're in for a shock."

"I didn't say he'd be more lenient. I just figured he wouldn't automatically ground me after he heard my side of the story."

"The only thing he'll need to know about your side of the story is that you were going 17 miles too fast. Until further notice, you can take the bus to school in the mornings." Abbey then turned her attention to her youngest daughter. "And that brings me to you. How did you know about the ticket?"

Zoey shrugged. "I just did."

"That's not an answer. Did you go through Lizzie's things?"

"No."

"Then how did you know about it?"

"She told her friend on the phone." Zoey's voice softened considerably with that admission.

"And you picked up the extension even though I told you last time that you'd get in trouble if you did that again."

"Daddy always told me to do it."

"Daddy's a kidder and you and I both know he was teasing when he told you that. Just last week, I warned you that if you did it again, you were going to be punished, remember?"

"Yeah." Her hands clasped behind her back, Zoey swayed from side to side.

"In that case, you're going to spend the rest of the night in your room."

All three girls followed Abbey as she turned to head back towards the kitchen. A pouting Zoey tried to wedge herself in front of Liz to get her mother's attention, but Liz still managed to dominate the discussion.

"Can we at least talk about this?"

"Sure we can. Talk."

"I think it's unfair for you to take my car keys away. It's my form of transportation. Going back to taking the bus after driving every day for the past month is humiliating."

"You should have thought about that during your joyride."

"It wasn't a joyride," Liz insisted. "You said we could talk."

"We are talking."

"You're not budging."

"Well, if that's what you meant, I could have saved you the trouble. I don't think there's anything you can say that's going to make me change my mind."

"Mom..."

"Damn it, Lizzie, it's dangerous." Abbey wasn't looking forward to a fight, so she took a beat for a calming breath before she went on. "I don't want to receive a call in the middle of the night, telling me that you've been hurt in an accident."

"I won't ever do it again. Ever."

"Good."

Once the momentary tension passed and Liz started setting the table, she changed her tactic. "So let's make a deal. I'll wash the dishes for a solid month after every single meal if you just let me drive this weekend."

"I don't make those kinds of deals."

"I'll call you as soon as I get there and right before I leave. I'll drive UNDER the speed limit the entire way."

"No."

"I'll clean the house, top to bottom."

"Forget it."

"I'll make you breakfast in bed, even on the days you have early rounds."

"No way."

Liz was on a seemingly endless roll until the phone rang. She ditched her efforts in an attempt to be the first to answer, thinking it had to be Jed on the line, only to be disappointed when she found out it was Ellie's teacher.

"It's Ms. Allen," she said as she handed the phone off to Abbey.

Ellie bit down on her lip and paced the floor, helplessly watching Abbey's concerned expression melt into confusion and then anger.

"Uh oh," she said quietly.

"Are you in trouble?" Liz asked her after she put the casserole into the oven.

"Yeah." It wasn't like Ellie to lie. Doing it made her sick to her stomach, but that was nothing compared to getting caught.

Abbey hung up the receiver, never breaking eye contact with her middle daughter. "What happened to the note your teacher sent home for me?"

"I don't know."

"What does that mean?"

"I don't know what I did with it. I forgot."

"Try to remember because in just a few minutes, I'm going to want to see it and after dinner, we're going to have a long talk about that science project you said you got an A on."

"You didn't get an A?" That piqued Liz's curiosity. "What'd you really get, El?"

"I got a B."

"That's not a bad grade. I don't get it. What's wrong?"

"I don't wanna talk about it."

Abbey understood Ellie's trouble in front of an audience. Any time she was asked to give an oral book report, she'd do practically anything to avoid it. So when Ellie told her that she'd have to defend her science project, not only to her class but to the entire fifth grade, it didn't surprise Abbey that the young girl would be nervous and apprehensive.

Together with Liz and Zoey, Abbey tried to ease her into it by allowing her a mock presentation the night before. Ellie did so well that it put Abbey's mind to rest and when she returned home the next day, claiming that she had received an A, Abbey embraced her with no small amount of pride. It never even occurred to her that Ellie might have boldly refused to complete her assignment.

* * *

"Congressman, you're needed on the floor." Michael trailed Jed on his way to his office.

"I'll be out there as soon as I make a call."

"They're waiting for you."

"Five minutes ago, we were all waiting for Congressman Bellis to get back from dinner and five minutes before that, it was Congressman Schrader strategizing in his war room. They can wait five minutes for me to call my wife."

Since 7 a.m., Jed had been on the go, running all day long from one meeting to another, one caucus to another, one committee to another. A five-minute breather to talk to Abbey sounded like paradise to him. He closed his door for some privacy, then reached for the phone.

Ellie answered. "Hello?"

"How are my four favorite girls?" Just hearing his daughter's voice perked him right up.

"Hi, Daddy. How are you?"

"I'm doing great, Princess." Jed hesitated because of the ruckus in the background. "What's going on over there?"

"Mom, Liz, and Zoey are arguing." Ellie glanced over at the bickering behind her. Liz was still trying desperately to negotiate with Abbey while Zoey defended herself for squealing on her sister.

"Arguing? About what?"

"I don't wanna tell on Lizzie. Ask her." She held the phone out towards Elizabeth. "Dad wants to talk to you."

Liz eagerly took the phone. "Dad?"

"What's going on? Why are you fighting with your mother?"

"It's Julia's Sweet Sixteen this weekend and she says I can't go. Will you talk to her?"

"Why did she say you can't go?"

If Liz thought she could beg Jed to overrule Abbey, she was setting herself up to be disappointed. Jed wasn't willing to undercut his wife like that, especially not in front of the girls. They had both learned long ago that supporting one another was crucial when it came to topics of discipline and he wasn't about to betray that lesson.

"Mom..." Liz began after she summarized the argument for Jed. "Dad wants to talk to you."

Though Abbey accepted the phone, Liz pressed her head up to the back of the receiver so she could listen along. "Hey you."

"Hey. So Lizzie got a speeding ticket and didn't tell you about it, huh?"

"That's right."

"This party she's talking about...this is the one she's been planning to go to for months? The big Sweet Sixteen extravaganza we've been hearing about?"

"That's the one."

"You grounded her from going?"

"Yeah."

"Good. I would have handled it exactly the same."

"DAD!" His response astonished Liz, but not Abbey.

"I talked to her, Lizzie. Isn't that what you wanted me to do?"

Abbey raised her brow at Liz to quit intruding on her conversation, then moved away with the phone still in her hand. "Thanks."

"Rough day?" His was a rhetorical question.

"You can say that again. They're mad at me."

"All of them?"

Abbey kept her eye glued to her daughters. "Yep."

"What did Zoey and Ellie do?"

"Long story. I'll tell you about it before bed tonight?"

"Stand firm, Abbey. Remember, there are three of them and one of you."

"Yeah, I'm getting that," she said, spying on the whispering trio, no doubt conspiring to sweet-talk her. "I wish you were here."

"I always wish I was there."

"You sound different. Are you all right?"

"I'm tired. I've been at the office since 6 a.m. You won't believe some of the maneuvering I have to do before I actually get down to business every morning. The Education and Labor Committee is whittling down a list of prospective counsel today. You'd think it'd be easy, wouldn't you? The ten of us meeting and deciding who we want?"

"Is anything in Washington that easy? Seems like unless it goes through a dozen people you have to bribe with favors first, it doesn't get done."

"That's about right," he replied. "Listen, one of the guys on the labor committee...Congressman Harris from Illinois...he knows Leo. He's worked with him before."

"And?"

"He wants him. That's who he's recommending for counsel. What do you think?"

"Our Leo? Has he ever worked on the Hill?"

"A few times last session. I don't know if he'd do it now, but that's not really what I'm asking. Abbey, the last time I spoke to Leo..."

"You tried to call him after the intervention, Jed. You reached out to him."

"Yeah and look where it got me. I don't know that this is a good idea, but everyone else is in agreement. What am I supposed to say?"

"Honey, Leo's a professional and so are you. Is he really the right man for the job? Do you trust his advice?"

"I've always trusted his advice, that's not the issue. And yes, of course he's qualified to do whatever it is consulting counsel does, but I don't know what it's going to be like working with him knowing he's still feeling so bitter towards me."

"Then use this as an opportunity to clear the air."

He covered the speaker with his hand when he heard a knock at the door. "Yeah?"

Christine stuck her head inside. "We have to get you back on the floor."

"I'm coming," he said before he pulled the receiver back to his mouth. "Abbey, I've gotta go. I'll give you a call later."

"Okay."

"Love you."

"Love you too."

A second after Jed hung up, he realized he never had a chance to talk to Zoey. As he started to dial once again, Christine discouraged him, insisting they were out of time. Reluctantly, Jed followed her out of his office and down the hall to exit the Rayburn House Office Building on his way to the Capitol.

* * *

Abbey heard her daughters' voices echoing down from upstairs. At least they weren't fighting, she noted as she started up the steps. Liz and Zoey were suspiciously crowding Ellie's doorway and she could hear a few soft-spoken words as she approached.

"You know, when I send you to your rooms, I actually do mean your individual rooms."

"Ellie's crying," Zoey informed her.

Abbey looked to Liz for elaboration since Ellie had buried herself under her blanket.

"She said that you and Ms. Allen both think she's a liar now. I tried to tell her that's not true, that it's no big deal..."

"It is a big deal, Liz."

"I'm just trying to make her feel better," Elizabeth explained. "She's really upset. She knows she made a mistake, but you're really mad at her and she thinks her teacher hates her. She doesn't even want to go back to school."

It was nice to see Liz's compassion for Ellie. If there was one thing Abbey could always count on Liz for, it was to stand up for her sisters. Despite their occasional sibling rivalry, Liz was the one Ellie and Zoey frequently turned to when they were upset or hurt because they knew they'd get an honest opinion without judgment or ridicule.

She gestured to Liz and Zoey to let her handle the situation and as the two girls left the room, Abbey made her way to the rocking chair beside Ellie's bed

"Lying is awfully hard, isn't it? You're constantly worried that people are going to find out you lied and when they inevitably do, you feel like your whole world has crashed down around you. I guess you were feeling too guilty to hear what I was saying on the phone. I told Ms. Allen that I received the note."

Ellie peeked her eyes out from under the covers. "What?"

"I covered for you. I told her I got the note when she sent it and that I was just so busy at work this week that I didn't get a chance to call her."

"Why did you do that?"

"Because this is between you and me. Why didn't you tell me about it, Ellie? That's not like you."

"I didn't want to do the presentation and I thought you'd make me do it."

"You did a good job when you did it in front of us."

"But that's you and Lizzie and Zoey. At school, they ask questions and I don't know all the answers. Why can't we just turn in our projects? Why do we have to defend them in front of everyone?"

"Because that's what your teacher wanted you to do. That was part of the assignment and the reason for that is because your teacher was looking for a few people to represent the class at the science fair. That's why she called tonight. She thinks your project was the best one in the fifth grade. If you can do the presentation, she wants you to enter the science fair."

"I don't wanna do it."

"Don't you think it's worth talking about?"

"No. I HATE it. I HATE standing up there in front of everyone. I can never get my words out, I can't say what I want to say and everything I do say just sounds stupid."

"Sweetheart, you never sound stupid."

"Yes, I do. I never even finished giving my social studies report because I started rambling and I forgot what I was saying and then I tried to find my place in the actual report and I couldn't and that just made me more nervous. Ms. Allen finally said I could sit down. I don't want to do it. Please don't make me."

Abbey had special insight into Ellie's struggle. Her sister Kate went through a similar thing in grade school and though she watched her parents repeatedly try to lure her from her shell, they were never really able to do it. It wasn't a handicap. It was just who Kate was. So instead of wishing her sister was outgoing like herself, Abbey supported Kate without hesitation and helped her find and nurture a talent in things that kept her out of the spotlight while encouraging her to do what she had to in order to get through her classes.

Now, she had to do the same for her daughter.

"You can't always get out of these things, Ellie. There are going to be times throughout school that you're going to have give oral reports and presentations. No one's expecting you to suddenly be great at it, but you will have to try."

"I can't."

"Yes, you can. Now this particular project is over. It's in the past. You can't go back and change the grade and if you don't want to submit it for the science fair, you don't have to."

"I don't?"

"No. But I want you to promise me that you'll let me help you so that next time, you won't be afraid to do whatever your teacher wants you to in order to get the grade you deserve." Abbey moved to the edge of her bed. "Is that a deal?"

Ellie bowed her head. "I don't know."

Abbey cupped her chin to force her to look up. "Eleanor, I'm not asking you to become a professional public speaker. I'm asking you to give it your best shot in school, that's all. I just want you to try. And I'm going to be right here to help you do it."

"I'm really bad at it."

"That's okay. I'm really bad at a lot of things."

"I'll probably still chicken out or get nervous."

"Then I'll just have to cheer you on until you get past those nerves."

"Am I still in trouble for lying to you and for hiding the note?"

"You sure are."

"Will you let it go if I take the deal?"

"What, are you taking lessons from Lizzie now?"

Ellie smiled. "I thought I'd try."

"The deal is a separate thing altogether, but if you don't take it, I think we're going to find ourselves in a similar position before the school year is out and I really don't want that. I don't think you do either."

"I don't."

"I know it's hard to get up there, but you've done hard things before, haven't you?"

"Yeah."

"Then let's do this one together."

"Okay," the ten-year-old finally agreed. "I'll try."

From the hall, Liz eavesdropped on the duo through a crack in the door. As mother and daughter reached an agreement, the teenager watched, impressed by the way Abbey had decided to approach Ellie's problem. She was used to seeing her parents work as a team to resolve these kinds of things. And if only one parent was available, it was usually Jed, not Abbey.

Seeing Abbey handle Ellie, Zoey, and herself on her own, in different ways unique to each child, gave Liz a new perspective on her mother and a new appreciation for Abbey's relationship with all three of her daughters.

TBC


	8. Chapter 8

Series: Snapshots of the Past

Series: Snapshots of the Past

Story: Man of the House

Chapter 8

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Previously: Abbey had to deal with Zoey eavesdropping on her sister, Ellie hiding a note from school, and Liz not telling her about a speeding ticket; Jed was apprehensive about Leo becoming consulting counsel for the House of Representative's labor committee

Summary: Liz and Abbey have a lot to talk about when Abbey catches Liz home alone with her boyfriend

* * *

A slamming car door roused Elizabeth out of her warm, comfortable bed and lured her towards the window where she pulled back her gauzy curtains to see her boyfriend Scott crunching the snow beneath his feet on his way to the front door. She quickly peeled off her pajamas and jumped into a pair of black jeans, a purple tank top and a black mesh blouse which she only buttoned half-way.

On her way down the stairs to meet his knock, she wrestled with her long brown hair, trying to tame the wavy locks into a high ponytail to hide the tangles, but as she stopped to gaze into the portrait mirror above the half-moon console in the foyer, she realized the tangles were the least of her worries.

Her skin was pale, her eyes were puffy, and her fatigue was painfully visible, which was why Abbey allowed her to stay home from school in the first place. Though this wasn't the way she wanted Scott to see her this early into their relationship, she didn't feel right ignoring him, so she took a deep breath, then opened the door.

"Hi," she said timidly. "What are you doing here?"

"I missed you in school. I wanted to stop by to see how you're feeling and to give you the Bio notes from Mindy."

"Oh, thanks."

"May I come in?"

"I'm not allowed to have guys over when I'm here alone."

"Just for a minute? It's kinda cold out here."

"Yeah, that's okay, I guess." Liz opened the door to let him in, then followed him through the entryway towards the living room.

"So everyone's gone?" Scott took off his jacket.

"My mom's at work and my sisters are at school."

"Still sick?"

"A sore throat, no big deal."

"Well, you look great. I'd never know you weren't 100 percent." As if he could sense her insecurity in that department, he inched his face closer to hers and planted a kiss on her mouth.

"Scott..." She pulled away. "I don't want to give you whatever I have."

"Trust me, Liz, I have an immune system that can handle anything. I haven't had a cold since I was eight."

He kissed her again. This time, he gently held the back of her neck to keep her close to him. Liz returned the kiss and when he backed her into the couch, he didn't have to push. She willingly sank down onto the cushion. To him, that was the invitation he needed. He used his toes to slide off his shoes and then he took off his sweatshirt, leaving only a white undershirt on his chest as he climbed on top of her, easing her onto her back while his lips collided with hers over and over again and his hands wandered down her body.

She had never buttoned the bottom two buttons on her blouse, so he focused on the top two. He yanked the fabric apart, causing it to tear slightly so he could slide it off her shoulders. By the time his fingers made their way to her jeans, Liz snapped back to reality. He unzipped her pants and his hand touched her over her panties when she slapped his wrist.

"Scott, what are you doing?"

"What do you mean what am I doing? You're right here with me doing it too. I thought we were making out."

"No, I don't want to."

"Why?" He stood up.

"Well, for one, I don't feel well."

"I thought you said it was a sore throat, no big deal."

"No big deal as in it's not serious. I still don't feel that great." She sat up, flustered.

"So you really are sick?"

"Yeah. It's not just that though."

"Then what?" He paused then and when he spoke again, his tone didn't hold nearly as much compassion. What Liz heard from him now was frustration. "We've been going out for a while and all we've ever done is kiss. I thought maybe we could explore some new territory."

"I don't think so. It's been less than a month. That's hardly a while. Kissing is all we're gonna do, Scott. I mean, I like you - a lot - but I'm not in love with you."

"I sometimes forget how blunt you are."

"You're not in love with me either. Did I make you think that I was going to have sex with you or something? Because if I did, it was a mistake."

"You just jumped three blocks ahead of me, Liz. There's a huge line between making out and having sex."

"Yeah, but that's what you were going for, isn't it? If I had let you, that's what you would have wanted?"

"Yeah, so?"

"So I don't do that."

"What does that mean?" A moment of realization hit him. "Are you...Liz, are you a virgin?" The way she looked away answered his question. "Oh wow. I didn't know that. I thought...well, I thought..."

"You thought wrong. I'm not looking for that kind of relationship. Why did you think I was?"

"I don't know. I'm new to this school. Where I grew up...the friends I made...being in a relationship at our age meant that you did these kinds of things. So when I got here and I saw the most beautiful girl in the junior class with guys falling all over themselves to talk to her, I just assumed that she would have done it too."

"Is that why you asked me out?

"No, no, that's not it at all. I asked you out because you're a knockout! And on top of that, you're probably the smartest person at that school. Plus, you're fun to hang out with. I didn't ask you out just 'cause I thought you'd sleep with me."

"But you DID think I'd sleep with you. Was that a bonus or something?"

"Liz, that's not what I'm saying. Everything's coming out wrong. All I'm saying is you're so popular that I assumed you had opportunities."

"Just because you have opportunities doesn't mean you have to take them. And if I'm popular, it isn't because I sleep around. A person doesn't have to have sex to be liked."

"Okay. I wasn't trying to upset you."

"The whole thing upsets me. It makes me question our whole relationship. I'm not into that kind of thing, Scott, so if you think you're missing out by dating someone who isn't anywhere near ready to commit herself to you in that way, then maybe we're not right for each other."

"Whoa, wait a minute. That isn't what I think at all. I was just surprised. But knowing that you've never...well, it kinda makes me like you more. As dorky as it sounds, it makes me respect you."

"It does?" Exactly the response she was hoping to hear.

"Yeah." He tenderly rubbed her hand. "Does it make you uncomfortable when I hold your hand or I kiss you?"

"No. I'm not some sort of unaffectionate freak," Liz teased in a more lighthearted tone. "I like it when you hold my hand and I like it when you hold me. I think you're a great kisser. I just don't want to go any further, at least not now."

"Okay."

"And just so you know for the future, if I do decide to...you know...I wouldn't dream of doing it in my parents' house."

"It's your house too."

"That's not the point."

"You're afraid of getting in trouble?"

"No. It's not about rules. It's just that we're devout Catholics. This kind of thing goes against everything my parents believe in and to do it in their house would be like slapping them across the face with it. I can't think of anything more disrespectful."

"My parents know I've done it in their house before."

"How many girls have you been with?"

"One - last summer. My parents caught me the first time we did it. They hit the roof, but then after that, they were pretty cool about it as long as I used protection and all."

"Well, my parents aren't like that. My mom talked to me about protection, but I could tell it was really hard for her. I know how much she wants me to wait."

"Hey, at least she made the effort to look out for you and make sure you don't get pregnant."

"It wasn't about pregnancy so much. She had this AIDS patient who was around my age and she told me she didn't want to take any chances because she couldn't live with the thought of not doing everything she could to protect me."

"It's pretty cool that she was so worried about you."

"Yeah. But if I ever did anything with a guy, I don't think she'd be okay with it. She'd try 'cause she loves me and she'd want me to feel free to talk to her about it, but I think she'd be disappointed."

"And you don't want to disappoint her."

"Who would ever want to disappoint their parents? And speaking of that, you should go. You're not supposed to be here."

He followed her to the foyer. "For what it's worth, I think it's cool that you respect your parents' faith so much."

"It's my faith too."

"So does it go against everything you believe in?"

"Yeah, it does. I'm not saying I'm necessarily going to wait until my wedding night, but I always figured I'd be with only one man - the man I'd end up marrying one day. I'm not ready to commit like that to any guy right now."

"I didn't know you felt so strongly about this."

"I do." As Liz opened the door for him to leave, she gave him a goodbye kiss, one that was interrupted by Abbey.

The two teenagers never even saw her there until she cleared her throat to announce her presence. Initially, she was confused, but that confusion transformed into anger in a matter of seconds. She never expected to be confronted with such a sight. Liz was a mess. Her blouse was rumpled, the scrunchie in her hair was falling out of her head, her ponytail was drooping down to her shoulders.

Scott was holding his sweatshirt and his jacket in his hands. He barely had his shoes on and his jeans were unbuttoned just like Liz's - that's what alarmed Abbey the most. She looked to her daughter for an explanation, but Liz, clearly embarrassed, was silent as she folded her arms across her chest to close her shirt over her tank top.

"Mrs. Bartlet, it's not what it looks like," Scott claimed, swiftly pulling his sweatshirt over his head. "I just came over to bring her the notes she missed in Biology."

Carrying a small paper bag in one hand and a larger grocery bag in the other, Abbey's eyes never left Liz. "Elizabeth?"

"Nothing happened."

"Look, it's my fault," Scott started. "Liz told me I wasn't allowed in, but I pushed her."

He was shocked speechless when Liz interrupted. "You better go. I'll call you later."

As Liz watched Scott walk to his car, Abbey's gaze fell, once again, to her daughter's jeans. Liz didn't have to look to know she had forgotten to button them. Humiliated, her hand instinctively reached for the top of her pants.

"You have five seconds to get yourself together and meet me inside," Abbey told her as she stepped into the house.

There was trepidation in every stride Liz took on the way to the kitchen where Abbey was unloading the groceries. "Before you freak out, let me tell you why you saw what you did."

"True or false: you're not allowed to have boys over when I'm not here."

"I know..."

"You know? Then why was he here?"

"He brought me Mindy's notes from Bio and he asked if he could come in for a minute."

"And that led to what exactly?" It was obvious she wasn't really looking for an answer. "I thought I could trust you. Do I have to hire a nanny?"

"You CAN trust me."

"Every time I try, you do something that tells me I can't. First it was not telling me about the speeding ticket..."

"This is nothing like the speeding ticket."

"...and now, here I am taking time off work to bring you soup. Not to mention I stopped at the store to buy the ingredients to make you homemade soup later, all because you told me you were too sick to go to school today."

"I am sick."

"Did you and Scott set this up? Did he tell his parents he was sick too?"

"No one set anything up. I was telling you the truth about being sick. And Scott was supposed to be at school. He came here because he was worried about me."

"Please." Abbey rolled her eyes. "If he was worried about you, he wouldn't have been thinking with his hormones. He would have come over to take care of you, not for an X-rated rendezvous in the middle of the day. Did you take him up to your room?"

The words stung Liz. "I can't believe you're even asking me that, Mom. We didn't do anything!"

"Then why were your jeans unbuttoned? Why was your shirt open? Why wasn't he wearing his sweatshirt? And why did the two of you look like you had just been caught in the act when you saw me? I'm not stupid, Elizabeth."

"Neither am I. Do you honestly think I slept with him?"

"If he was here for just a minute, he would have had no reason to take off his shoes."

"Do you think I slept with him?" Liz repeated her question.

Abbey's gut instinct said no, that Liz had higher morals and that she wouldn't compromise those morals for anyone, but because she was angry, she allowed a sliver of doubt to shadow her thoughts. "I don't know what to think."

"I may not come right out and tell you everything, but when was the last time I looked you in the eye and lied to you?" Liz's eyes pierced into Abbey's in the only way she thought she could express her sincerity. "He wanted to. I pushed him away. I don't sleep with my boyfriend, Mom. I don't ditch school to have sex in my room. I'm not that kind of girl."

Abbey believed her. And had Liz waited a second longer before bolting upstairs, she would have known that. But she didn't wait. Abbey's pager went off and she used that opportunity to run away from a potentially hurtful response. Still tangled up in the emotions from her conversation with Scott, she couldn't bear the possibility of Abbey rejecting her story.

It was no secret that at times, Liz was her mother's biggest critic, a result of hurt feelings or the constant flow of misunderstandings between the two of them. Despite all that, though, Abbey's opinion meant more to her than anyone else's and to think, for even a minute, that Abbey had lost respect for her crushed her spirit.

Fortunately, Abbey could see that. She knew Liz better than anyone. She knew everything about her, from the things that everyone knew - her favorite foods or her biggest pet peeves - to the things that only a mother could know. Her sensitive feelings were churning inside and though she tried to hide it by escaping the conversation, Abbey didn't let her.

Liz was on her way to her room when Abbey called after her. "Liz?" Liz paused midway up the stairs. "I don't think you slept with him."

"It seemed like you did a few minutes ago. What changed?"

"You've never looked me in the eye and lied to me."

Liz turned to face her mother. "All we did was kiss."

It was true that Elizabeth wasn't a perfect angel. She bent the truth from time to time and she wasn't always forthcoming about things like speeding tickets. Although she had her flaws, there were certain lines she just wouldn't cross.

She had never broken curfew, never cheated on homework, much less an exam, and never gotten in trouble at school for anything other than occasionally talking in class. Things like smoking or drinking were never an issue and drugs weren't even a possibility. Abbey found it hard to believe that Liz would abandon the standards she set for herself over a boy she hardly even knew.

"I believe you. So instead of running to your room and shutting me out, why don't you stay down here so we can talk about this?"

"Don't you have to go back to work?"

"Dr. Nolan will cover my patients. This is more important."

That declaration meant a lot to Liz. She started to walk down slowly. "Will you listen to me?"

"Yeah. I want to know what happened."

Abbey held out her hand to an accepting Liz, who reached the bottom landing then headed to the living room while Abbey called the hospital. Once she was done, she joined her daughter on the loveseat.

"He came over on his own. I didn't even know he was coming. He asked if he could come in for only a minute and I said yes. Then, he kissed me. One thing led to another and before I knew it, he tried to shove his hands down my pants. That's when I stopped him."

"Did he do anything that you didn't want him to do?"

"No, it wasn't like that. As soon as I pulled away, he quit. He didn't pressure me and he definitely didn't make me do anything. I should have stopped sooner."

"I'm not judging, I'm just asking. Why didn't you stop sooner?"

"All I did was kiss him and it lasted all of two minutes before his hands started roaming. It was wrong, I know. I shouldn't have even let him in. But I never thought that he'd try to go further."

"He probably has gone further before - with other girls. He might have even slept with a few." Liz bowed her head, her way of letting Abbey know that she wasn't surprised by that factoid. "You knew this?"

"He just told me."

"Liz..."

"It was only one girl."

"ONLY? He's 17!"

"Mom, I can handle it. This means nothing."

"I don't want you getting yourself into a situation that's..."

"That's what? Beyond my experience? I can deal with it. I turned him down today. What makes you think I wouldn't turn him down tomorrow?"

"That's not the point. Why would you even put yourself in that position?"

"Because I trust him. I don't think he'd ever pressure me and I like him, Mom. I really like him." Sensing her mother's discomfort, Liz added, "If he ever does try to talk me into something I'm not ready to do, I'm strong enough to say no."

Liz wasn't the type to succumb to peer pressure, but that didn't soothe Abbey's concerns.

"And what if he convinces you that you are ready?"

"He won't. He knows where I stand."

"Liz, I don't feel good about this. I think you're underestimating the male teenage mind."

"You're not telling me I can't see him anymore, are you?"

"I'm not trying to punish you. I'm worried about you."

"I know that, but can you just trust me to do the right thing?"

"It's not about trusting you."

"Yes it is," Liz insisted. "And it probably sounds like a lot to ask with what happened last night with the speeding ticket and all, but this is so different. Please trust me this time. I won't let you down."

"I don't want to see you get hurt."

"We've already had the sex talk. You know how I feel about it. I don't want that kind of relationship right now. I'm too young and I'm not in love with him. Far from it."

"The problem is that people change their minds about things like that and if you've got someone more experienced than you, after just one thing, whispering in your ear all the time, who knows where it'll lead."

"Scott isn't after just one thing. He cares about me. And anyway, I'm not going to change my mind overnight. If he pressures me or if I'm overwhelmed, I'll come to you. You said I could tell you anything."

Abbey remembered that conversation well. No matter how much she wanted Liz to wait to experience sex with the man she loved, she knew how often girls just as smart and savvy as Liz gave in to their hormones. She saw evidence of it every single day at the hospital and she refused to see her daughter become one of the young mothers in the maternity wing or, even worse, one of the patients struggling with AIDS.

So she sat Elizabeth down and talked to her about abstinence, then told her the importance of using protection, just in case. She also pledged her unconditional love and support at the end of that night, hoping that if Liz ever found herself in a serious situation, she wouldn't hesitate to ask Abbey for help.

"I did say that. And I meant it. There's nothing you can't tell me, Lizzie."

"I know."

"Do you? Even after what happened today?"

"Yeah. I wasn't surprised by your reaction. It's not like I thought you'd be totally cool if you ever caught me with my boyfriend. All you said that night is that you wouldn't judge me. And you haven't...well, at least not since we started talking."

"I assumed the worst when I got home. I was angry."

"I don't blame you. If I had told him to leave instead of kissing him back and getting lost in the moment, none of this would have happened." Liz extended her arms to hug Abbey. "I'm sorry, Mom."

"I'm sorry too...for misjudging you. I do trust you," Abbey assured her. "When it comes to these kinds of things, you've never given me reason to doubt you."

"I won't this time either. If I'm in over my head, I'll tell you everything. I swear."

"I'm counting on that."

Abbey held her daughter tight. It felt good to clear the air instead of allowing their feelings to fester until they reached the boiling point the way they had so many times in the past. Liz was thinking exactly the same.

After breaking the embrace, she glanced at the clock on the wall. "Hey, we resolved this argument in record time. And we did it without slamming any doors."

"Or giving each other the silent treatment for a few days."

"Dad would be proud of us."

"I think he would."

"So now that we're on a roll here, is there any hope of me getting my car keys back?"

"Not a chance," Abbey chuckled. "I bought us two bowls of chicken noodle soup though. How about we share some lunch before I go back to work?"

Liz stood up to follow her to the kitchen. "It's not the same as the freedom to drive, but I'll settle for that."

TBC


	9. Chapter 9

Series: Snapshots of the Past

Series: Snapshots of the Past

Story: Man of the House

Chapter 9

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Previously: After Abbey caught Liz home alone with Scott, mother and daughter had a long talk about whether or not Liz was ready to handle a relationship with her experienced boyfriend

Summary: Jed is fed up with Washington politics

Rating: NC-17

* * *

Jed Bartlet was a man of conviction, not afraid to stand up for what he believed. He was passionate and principled, fearless and outspoken, articulate and fair. On a particularly cold February morning in 1985, he was also outraged.

"Condom vending machines in public schools. That's what you want me to support." It wasn't a question Jed posed. More like an accusation. And it was directed at his Legislative Director, Aidan Mitchell.

"They're not vending machines. Students have to see the school nurse."

"Who arbitrarily gives them all the condoms they need without parents having any knowledge of it whatsoever."

"Nowhere in the bill does it say the nurse will give them all the condoms they need."

"Semantics, my friend."

"It may not be a perfect proposal, but It's not exactly ridiculous either. A lot of organizations have come out in favor of this bill and Congressman Bennett has put a lot of work into it."

"You mean his staff has put a lot of work into it." The two men strolled through the lobby of the Rayburn House Office Building, Jed leading the way to his congressional suite. "I'm not ready to put my name on something like that."

"You should think about it, Congressman."

"Why? The bill will never even pass. He doesn't have anywhere near the number of votes he needs to win. What difference does it make how I vote?"

"We need Bennett's support on Head Start and some of the other programs you're advocating this session. If you vote against him on this, he'll feel like he's been betrayed by a freshman member of his own party. We'll lose him on the other stuff."

"So I bribe him into voting for what I want by voting for what he wants even if it's something I don't agree with?"

"That's how it works."

"You know, I'm getting really sick of how it works."

Jed's idealistic approach to government had already become legendary among his fellow politicians. He was a brilliant man, blessed with rock solid ethics and the courage to stand by his convictions. He openly refused to support legislation just to placate his colleagues and while many people admired him for that, some considered it his weakness in professional politics.

"What's going on?" Deputy Chief of Staff, Lindsay, followed Jed and Aidan to Jed's office.

"Let me straighten something out right now," Jed began, addressing both of his staffers. "I came here to represent the people of my district. Condoms in schools was a ballot issue in New Hampshire two years ago. It failed by a wide margin. You really want me to betray the people who put me in office by voting for it here?"

"Studies show that making condoms available to kids doesn't promote sexual activity."

"You show me ten studies that say that and I'll show you ten more that say the opposite. Look, I personally believe in abstinence. But in this day and age, I don't necessarily think it's a bad thing to educate kids about using protection. I just think it should be left to the parents. If one of my daughters has questions about sex, I want her to come to me or to Abbey. I don't want her dropping a dime in a machine in the bathroom at school to retrieve a condom."

"That isn't what we're talking about," Aidan reminded him. "They're required to see..."

"To see the nurse, I know. My example was an exaggeration, but you understand what I'm saying. This kind of thing belongs at home. It's between teens and their parents, not teens and the school nurse, or worse, their friends. That's exactly what it's going to turn into if we start dispensing condoms in the public schools in this way, you know. All of a sudden, these kids are going to be egging each other on. It's going to become a contest to see who can score the most condoms. And what exactly do you think they're going to use them for once they've got them?"

"That's not the point."

"How can it not be the point? Why aren't we working on ways to educate young people about the dangers of having sex - not just pregnancy, but STDs, some of which are fatal."

"You keep talking like that and people are going to say you're being difficult." Christine had snuck in unnoticed until she teased her boss with that comment. She peeked her head out from behind Aidan and Lindsay. "Teaching kids about safe sex is something entirely different from freely distributing condoms."

"Yes, it is," Jed agreed. "I'll put my name on any bill proposing legitimate sex education courses for senior high students. I won't put my name on a bill that simply wants to set up a condom shack in the schools. I can't do it."

"I think we're taking this way too far," Lindsay interjected. "The bill will never make it out of the House. There's no harm in voting for it and if we want Bennett on other things, I don't think you have a choice, Congressman."

"So once we get his support, the vote is erased from my permanent voting record, right?" Jed waited for a response he knew he'd never get. "Didn't think so. We'll have to find another way to get Congressman Bennett to back us."

"Like what?"

"I don't know. I'll buy him dinner and explain why I can't, in good conscious, give him my vote. He'll understand. With some discussion, I think I can get him to see where I'm coming from, so long as his legislative aide stays out of it. That guy's a few light bulbs short of a marquee."

Jed was a reasonable man and so he assumed that everyone else would be just as reasonable when it came to political wrangling. It was those kinds of assumptions - born out of inexperience - that frustrated his staff. There were other representatives roaming the hallowed halls of the United States Capitol just like Jed, compassionate and understanding. Unfortunately, Ernie Bennett wasn't one of them and no matter how many times his staff tried to warn him about that, Jed just didn't seem to listen.

As Aidan and Lindsay left quietly, Christine closed the door behind them. She turned to her boss then and in the most respectful tone she could muster, she questioned his motives.

"Are you sure your judgment isn't clouded on this one, Congressman?"

"I don't know what you mean."

"You have a daughter who is about the age of the boys and girls we're talking about here. I'm just wondering if that's who you're thinking about right now."

"I can assure you, I'm not." Jed still wasn't aware of the compromising situation Abbey had found their eldest daughter in the day before. "I'm rejecting this bill because it's a piece of crap. No other reason."

"In that case, I think you're right."

"You do?"

Christine nodded. "You weighed the options with your head and now, it's time to vote with your heart. Your heart says no. Sounds like the decision is made."

"Thanks. I thought I was all alone here."

"I know you better than they do. I trust you to do the right thing."

"If only I could do the right thing and still get what I want at the end of the day, this job would be a lot easier."

"If it was easy, everyone would do it."

* * *

Abbey paced the floor of her bedroom riddled with worry. It was 10:30 p.m. and neither she nor the girls had heard from Jed since breakfast. She comforted her daughters with an excuse - a late meeting that kept him at the office past their bedtime, the reason Christine had given for not being able to reach him - and tucked them in with promises of a morning phone call. But she didn't believe it. Meeting or not, it wasn't like Jed not to call.

After glancing at the clock half a dozen times, she finally stripped off her clothes and headed to his side of the closet. On nights she felt particularly lonely, she had a special habit - she'd change into something of Jed's, something that carried his scent and would lull her to sleep. Tonight, she chose one of his old button-down shirts, white with long sleeves, but as she put it on, a stream of light burst through the window, startling her.

Someone had set off the alarm system's motion director. A wave of panic hit her and before she reacted with a call to police, she peeked out the window to the driveway down below where Jed was paying the taxi driver who had just dropped him off.

Abbey grabbed her robe, turned off the alarm, and jogged down the stairs, confused yet excited about seeing him. Jed dropped his bags the second she stepped outside. She was moving towards him so quickly that he planted himself at the bottom of the porch and just held out his arms.

"I can't believe you're here!" She said as she leapt into his arms. "You weren't supposed to be here until tomorrow night."

"So I took a day off. A day and a half if you consider the fact that I left the office around three today." He couldn't get enough of her warm body against his. His hands ran up and down her backside, from her shoulders to her rear.

"Why didn't you call?"

"What kind of surprise would that have been? I should have been here sooner. My flight was supposed to leave at five, but we were delayed because of the snowstorm in Washington. They had us sitting out on the tarmac for three hours!"

Abbey eventually broke their embrace to lead him inside. "Are you going to tell me what's going on?"

"What do you mean?"

"You never take a day off."

"First time for everything." He didn't want to admit that his staff had convinced him the only way to escape the vote on Bennett's proposal Friday morning without facing backlash was to return home to his district. He should have known though, that she'd see through him.

"Seriously."

"Seriously? I'll tell you about it later. Let's just say that I'm thrilled to be home a day early." He set his bags down in the foyer to take off his coat. "Girls in bed?"

"For a while now. Ellie and Zoey are both asleep and Liz has been groggy all day."

"What did the doctor say?"

"He prescribed antibiotics."

"So it is strep throat?"

"Yeah. She should be feeling better tomorrow. Are you hungry? We have leftover chicken from dinner. Or I can make you something else. Maybe a sandwich?"

"No, I couldn't eat a bite. I just want to peek in on the girls and then go to bed with you."

"Sounds good to me."

They each wrapped their arms around the other's waist and walked upstairs together to check on their sleeping daughters. Once that was done, they retreated to their own room. Both were physically and mentally exhausted from their respective days, but seeing each other had recharged their batteries and opened the door to a whirlwind of possibilities for the long night ahead.

Feeling him in her arms wasn't enough for Abbey. Though she always missed Jed, at night, she missed him the most. The bed was too big when he wasn't there, the covers were too heavy, the mattress was too light. Seeing him lying back on it now, she wanted to do more than just hold him. She wanted to make love to him.

He had slid out of his shoes and collapsed on the bed fully clothed in professional attire. Abbey shed her robe, revealing the shirt she was wearing, the one that belonged to him. That seemed to bring Jed immediately back to life. He always did love seeing his wife's sexy body wiggling around in his clothes.

"Get over here," he whispered provocatively as he propped himself up on his side with his elbow.

Abbey slipped her hands under the shirt to pull on her lacy white panties. They rolled down her legs with little effort and she tossed them aside as she crawled, on her knees, onto the bed. She pushed him to his back and kissed him first while fingering the knot on his tie. Then, she straddled his hips and started on the buttons of his shirt and finally, she reached his pants.

Looking up to see that gorgeous face of his colored with a blush of excitement, she worked his belt as slowly as humanly possible. It killed Jed, being so close to her and not being able to touch her. That's what she wanted - to tease him with anticipation - and he allowed her to do it, though he gave her a warning.

"If you don't hurry up, I'm going to take matters into my own hands."

"Threats aren't very nice, Gumdrop. They might just motivate me to go slower." Abbey shot him a wicked grin, then sped up the process, freeing him of his clothes so fast that Jed didn't even have a chance to brace himself.

He laid there before her, naked and irresistibly sexy. Abbey wanted to take the time to relish every part of this body, but Jed couldn't stand it. He had been without her for nearly a week and he craved her like never before. He didn't want foreplay. He just wanted her.

"When I'm in Washington," he said, "I have these dreams."

"About what?" Abbey ran her tongue over his chest.

"You," he answered, drawing a smile from her. "I dream of making love to you in every way possible. I dream of making you lose control in my arms and holding you during your orgasm, then helping you relax only to do it to you all over again."

"I'll tell you a secret." Her husky voice carried a hint of mischief. "I have those dreams too."

He couldn't hold back much longer and like any woman who knew her lover as well as she knew Jed, Abbey sensed this. She abandoned her method of seduction and detoured to the pulsating appendage that was growing harder by the second. As she took him in her hands. tenderly massaging his shaft the way only she could, Jed clenched his eyes shut and moaned her name, the last syllable left dangling when she surprised him with drop of a cold, soothing lotion he had never felt before.

She stroked his penis with it, kneading the head and adding a little more pressure on the way down to the tip. She focused on the underside next and after that, she gently cupped his scrotum, giving him a squeeze that caused Jed to wriggle beneath her.

He was dangerously close to the edge, so she returned the lotion to the drawer and mounted him. He thought it would be a smooth penetration, the way it usually was in this position, but for the second time in minutes, he was caught off-guard. Abbey lowered herself onto him with such gusto that Jed nearly climaxed right then and there.

Quickly, he began to undo the buttons on the shirt she was wearing. With the top two out of the way, he bared the sultry swells of her breasts and he was finally able to touch her the way he'd been wanting to all night. A fiery passion danced in her eyes and she moved so fast that he found it impossible to hold it together. He was rapidly losing control.

"God, Abbey, slow down."

"Do you really want me to?" She already knew the answer.

"No."

He tore the shirt off her body with one rip and reached below her belly to where they were joined. He had barely touched her there when Abbey felt him swelling inside her. Jed's hands moved to her hips. Pulling her or anchoring her, Abbey wasn't sure, but she bore down hard on his shoulders, leaning back, then forward, and grinding against him even faster than before.

"It's okay, baby," she told him when she realized he was trying to wait for her. "Let go."

Jed always liked hitting the climax together and usually, he was successful at waiting for Abbey to join him. But tonight, it was a lost cause. She felt so good, guarding his most sensitive organ inside her tight feminine walls. He couldn't stop gazing at the halo of hair framing her beautiful face while she bounced up and down over the length of his shaft.

Abbey stared deep into his eyes as his expression changed with a soul-numbing orgasm that ripped him apart. She continued moving for several more seconds, until the aftershocks that twitched his muscles had stopped. That's when she leaned down to trace his handsome features with her loving fingertips.

"I'm sorry," was all he could offer in his weakened state. "I couldn't. I tried to wait."

"It's okay." She kissed him on the lips.

"I love you so much. You always know exactly what I need." He wrapped his arms around her to encourage her to lay on top of him.

"Jed?"

"Yeah?"

"What happened at work today?" she asked as she stroked his chest.

Jed shook his head. "I don't want to get into it."

"Why?"

"Because I did something I'm not proud of."

"What's that?"

He should have known better. Abbey wasn't going to let this go until he told her exactly what was on his mind. "I'm missing a vote tomorrow."

"Why?"

"The bill's not something I believe in, so I can't vote yes. And I can't vote no because it's politics."

"What does that mean? If you don't believe in it, why didn't you stay to fight it?"

"It's not going to pass anyway. Another nay vote wouldn't have mattered. The only thing it would have done was earn me a few more enemies, so I left."

"Just like that?"

He prepared himself for what he thought was coming. "Go ahead."

"Go ahead what?"

"Say whatever it is you're thinking."

"I'm thinking that I'm surprised. That's all."

"Aren't you going to tell me how wrong I was to come home and bail on the vote?"

"I'm not positive you are wrong. And if you are, I don't think you need to hear it from me." Her loyalty had no limits.

"Yeah, I do. That's why I count on you, Abbey. In Washington, I don't know if I'm being greeted by scorn or praise half the time. I do know that none of it is sincere. I don't know who to trust. That's why I came home. You don't sugar coat your words with me. You tell it to me straight. That's what I need."

"I can't give you an opinion without knowing all the facts. But you've never bailed on anything in your life. I find it hard to believe you would do it now without a good reason."

Jed lifted her chin to look her in the eye. "You have more faith in me than I deserve sometimes."

He held her at the waist and rolled them both over so that he was now on top. His hands framing her face, he kissed her again and again while his knee pushed her legs apart. He felt her body heat rising and as beads of sweat dampened her forehead, he realized he, too, was ready for another round.

This time, it would be about Abbey. He hungered for her and he cherished every moment of it. His erotic lust caused her eyes to flutter over his shoulder as he worked his way down her body. Still turned on by their earlier encounter, it would have been fairly easy to send Abbey over the brink of ecstasy, but Jed took his time anyway.

First, he used his hands. He massaged her, probing every inch of the sensitive flesh between her legs and all those spectacular nerves that instantly made her weep with pleasure. It was there, at the core of her sexuality, that he felt her aching for more.

Her body surged against him as he spread her legs far and wide and positioned himself in the middle, lying down flat on his stomach and resting his palms on her inner thighs to push them down to either side while he lavished her with oral affection. He loved the taste of her. Abbey could tell by the way his firm tongue worked its way around her center.

Her head jerked from side to side and her hips rose off the mattress. Jed looked up into her eyes to see the desire smoldering in the depths of her twinkling jades. She wanted just a little bit more. She wanted exactly what he did. So he sat up, climbed on top of her, and penetrated her fully, pushing forward until he was buried as far as he could go. After waiting a beat to give her a chance to adjust, once again, to the feeling of his penis tickling her inside her body, he allowed her to dictate their pace.

She locked her ankles around his back and held him tight in her arms. If she rocked her pelvis fast against his, he sped up to meet the tempo. If she slowed down, so did he, until eventually, she relinquished all control to an orgasm so powerful that it shattered her from stem to stern.

He held her the whole time. Only when the quivering tremors began to subside did he allow himself to bask in the tantalizing pleasure of her muscles constricting around him.

When it was over and Abbey closed her eyes while struggling to find her breath, her lids were greeted with a kiss from Jed as he pressed his lips to her face and swept aside a few locks of hair that clung to her forehead.

"Do me a favor?" she asked, still gasping for air.

"Name it."

"Surprise me more often."

TBC


	10. Chapter 10

Series: Snapshots of the Past

Series: Snapshots of the Past

Story: Man of the House

Chapter 10

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Previously: Avoiding a vote in Congress, Jed returned home to Manchester; Abbey caught Liz home alone with her sexually experienced boyfriend; Ellie refused to participate in her school's science fair because she was reluctant to give a presentation

Summary: Jed nurses a sick Elizabeth and discovers just how much he's missed while he's been in DC

* * *

"Zoey, what are you doing?"

Ellie rushed towards her sister in an effort to stop her, but the preschooler was too quick. She overturned a box of Cheerios over a small bowl on the kitchen table and in a flash, she understood what Ellie had successfully predicted.

"Oops." The cereal spilled out over the bowl in a giant heap, leaving Zoey to curl her lips together and shrug. "I just wanted the prize."

"You're not supposed to do it like that. Come on, I'll help you clean it up."

Spying on the girls and waiting for an opportunity to leap onto the table and nibble at the treat, the Bartlets' new kitten, Ginger, was small enough to hide on the chair opposite Zoey. She was a feisty little thing, sneaky and defiant, and as Ellie frequently said, she wandered the house looking for ways to get herself into trouble.

The second her mistresses turned their backs, Ginger hopped on the table and frolicked on top of the cereal, so rowdy and energetic that she inched the bowl to the edge and sent it crashing to the floor below.

"GINGER!" Zoey admonished her, but it was Ellie who grabbed her and threw her out of the kitchen. "Don't be mean to her! She didn't know what she was doing!"

"I wasn't being mean to her."

"You kicked her out!"

"She's always in the way. She'll cut herself on the glass if we don't get her out of here."

"You could have taken her to the other room and told her. Now she'll think we're mad at her. She'll think she's in trouble."

"She IS in trouble," Ellie replied. "She broke the bowl. I'm not taking the blame for it."

"Don't tell Mommy she broke it."

"I'm not lying to Mom, Zo. I'm in enough trouble for that already."

"That's a very wise decision, Ellie." Abbey's voice surprised both girls. They turned to see their mother standing in the entryway to the kitchen. "What happened here?"

"Ginger broke the bowl."

"By accident," Zoey added just before her father caught her eye. "DADDY!"

Jed had barely approached them when Zoey came running out of the kitchen as fast as her five-year-old feet could take her. His heart swelling with her excitement at seeing him, he bent his knees to scoop her up into his arms.

"Hey you little gremlin!"

Ellie followed her sister. "Dad, when'd you get home?"

"Last night."

"Why didn't you wake us?"

"I figured sneaking in on you in the morning would be more fun." Jed set Zoey down on the ground, then welcomed Ellie with a kiss to her forehead. "How are you, Princess?"

"Good. But we made a mess in here." She directed him towards the spilled cereal and broken glass.

"That's nothing," Jed assured her. "I'll have it cleaned up in no time. You finish getting ready for school and I'll take care of this. Breakfast in 20 minutes, okay?"

"Breakfast?" Ellie questioned. "You're going to make it?"

"Yeah."

"We don't do that anymore."

"Do what?"

"Breakfast. We eat whatever we want."

"Not whatever you want." Abbey was quick to correct her. Though she allowed the girls to eat on their own in the mornings, she always made sure they had a nutritious meal, whether she was home or at the hospital.

"Well, whatever we want that's breakfast food."

"What do you mean?" Jed looked to his wife for answers. "You don't sit down and have breakfast together?"

"Not on the weekdays."

This was his first Friday morning home since he left for Washington. He had no idea that things had changed. "Why?"

"There just doesn't seem to be enough time," Abbey reasoned as she clutched Liz's prescription in one hand a spoon in another.

"There was always enough time before."

"Well, now there isn't. We grab what we can when we can and we're out the door. It's just easier this way."

Easier? Jed didn't quite understand the logic there. Family breakfasts were important to him. If there was a need to sacrifice something for a more efficient routine, breakfast wouldn't have been his choice. But he reminded himself that he was no longer around during the week and if Abbey and the girls decided this was what they wanted, he'd just have to live with it.

When Abbey left the kitchen to take Liz her morning dose of medicine, Ellie and Zoey poured themselves a fresh bowl of cereal and began to eat while standing at the counter. Jed bit his tongue, choosing to retrieve the broom and clean up the cereal they had spilled earlier without another word about breakfast.

* * *

In some ways, Abbey Bartlet was like many other mothers. She loved to help her girls with homework or read them bedtime stories when they were young. She quizzed them before tests at school and attended PTA meetings whenever she could. She baked cupcakes and brownies for fundraisers, helped out with Girl Scout cookie sales, chaperoned class field trips now and then, and showed up to cheer at soccer or basketball games, cheerleading competitions, dance recitals, gymnastics meets, and school plays.

She was as tough and as strict as she was gentle and kind. She often nagged her daughters to clean their rooms, she pushed them to study hard and earn good grades, and when they'd occasionally step out of line, she revoked their privileges and explained to them why.

But there were certain days she was far from the run-of-the-mill mom and as Liz stirred around in bed early that morning, watching her mother pull a stethoscope out of her bag, she knew this was one of those days. Though they had a family pediatrician, Abbey never thought twice about using her own skills to care for her children when they were sick.

"Breathe in," she told Liz, who was now sitting up and leaning forward. "And out."

"Mom, it's my throat that hurts, not my lungs."

"In." Abbey ignored her. "And out."

"How come doctors always think that no matter what's wrong with a patient, it must have something to do with the lungs?" Liz sat back to give Abbey access to her pajama-clad chest.

"How come patients always think that no matter what's wrong with them, they must know better than their doctor?"

"You're not my doctor."

"Even more important, I'm you're mother." Abbey removed the stethoscope and returned it to her medical bag. "You'd be amazed at the number of things that can go wrong with the lungs due to other seemingly unrelated ailments. That's what makes the lungs so fascinating."

"Is that why you went into thoracic medicine?"

"Maybe."

"What does that mean?"

"That's a question for another day." She picked up a thermometer. "Open."

Liz cringed at the thought. "Again?"

"It's about that time."

"I hate having that thing in my mouth. Can't you just feel my forehead?"

"I want an accurate reading." Abbey approached her with the tip. "Now open."

Hesitantly, Liz agreed. She closed her lips around the thermometer while Abbey soothingly rubbed her back. She might have been 16 years old, but when it came to being sick, Lizzie was still a little girl, just as lousy a patient now as she was back then.

During her elementary school years, trips to the doctor scared her so much that she often started crying in the car. It was such a traumatic experience for her, in fact, that Abbey used to skip work or med school whenever she was sick, unwilling to let Jed take her to the doctor alone because she couldn't bear the thought of not being there to comfort Liz along the way.

She still remembered the way Liz used to cling to her when they walked into the waiting room. While the other kids played or colored, her usually rambunctious daughter sat glued to her side or on her lap. During the exam, it was Abbey that Elizabeth reached out for. She refused to let go of her mother's hand and if Abbey dared to move out of her sight for even a second, her tiny lips trembled with fear.

She wasn't anxious now like she was then, but there were certain things that still made her queasy. Having a thermometer in her mouth was one of them. Taking medicine was another. Knowing this, Abbey came prepared with a plan. Once she removed the thermometer, she sat down beside Liz to administer the antibiotic.

"Yuck." Liz stared at the medicine Abbey poured onto the spoon, repulsed by the memory of the sour taste from the day before.

"I know it's icky."

"Do I have to take it now? Can't we just wait an hour?"

"I'm afraid not. If you don't take it now, I'm going to have to give it to you by injection." If there was any other way, Abbey would have reconsidered that ultimatum.

"Don't you think it's cruel to threaten me when I'm sick?"

"I think it's crueler for you to force me to give you a shot even though you know I don't want to."

Abbey had been through this a number of times with Jed when he was sick. Those experiences had taught her that prolonging the inevitable would only serve to indulge his avoidance. So without waiting another moment, she extended her hand to get Liz to accept the spoon in her mouth, but the teen pursed her lips together and turned her head.

"HOLD ON!" It came out as a muffled order between her tight lips.

"Elizabeth."

"Give me a chance to get used to the idea." Afraid Abbey might try to force it down her throat, Liz took charge of the spoon.

"How much time do you need?"

"I don't know. It takes Mindy's mom a while to get Mindy to take her medicine."

"Mindy's mom doesn't have the kind of leverage I do."

Mother and daughter stared at one another in a stand-off that lasted three full minutes. It was only after Abbey reached into her medical bag that Liz, fearing a shot, held up one hand in defeat and clenched her eyes shut as she prepared to thrust the spoon into her mouth.

"OKAY, OKAY! I'll take it." In one quick gulp, she downed the chalky substance, scrunching up her face as it passed through her system.

A chuckling Abbey took the spoon out of her hands. "Just so you know, I was reaching for a pen. I don't have any needles with me."

"You did that on purpose!" Liz accused, still recovering from the taste as she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.

"It worked, didn't it?"

"Now that you used that trick, good luck getting me to take another dose in a few hours."

As if responding on cue, Jed swung open the door, holding a tray of blueberry oatmeal and apple juice. "I'm told that's going to be my problem."

"Dad?" That little surprise brought Liz back to life.

"Hope you're hungry."

"The medicine ruins the taste of everything."

"Lucky for you, you already took it."

"I thought you weren't coming until tonight."

"Change of plans," he said as he placed the tray in front of her. "How are you feeling, Sweetheart?"

"Better. Are you staying home with me today?"

"All day."

"Really?" She was beaming with enthusiasm.

"As long as you don't make me sick." As if that would have stopped Jed.

"She's no longer contagious," Abbey informed him.

"Then why are you making me take that awful antibiotic?" Liz asked.

"Because the infection isn't gone yet, and also," Abbey smiled wryly at her daughter. "Because I can."

"You see that, Dad? Mom's being mean to me. Just before you got here, she tricked me into taking my medicine." Liz used her most innocent voice, a clear indication that, illness or not, she was in good spirits.

"Yeah, she's pretty uptight about that stuff. She's mean to me too when I'm sick." Jed turned a playful eye to his wife.

"You know, I could let you both suffer the next time you're feeling under the weather. I'll just ignore all the whining and the sobbing over the pain and misery of it all."

"You say that now, but you'd never go through with it."

"It would serve you right if I did, Jethro."

"Like it or not, my little cupcake, you're a hardass. If anyone in this house so much as sneezes, you pull out your thermometer."

"Next time you sneeze, I'll know just where to stick that thermometer," Abbey barked with good-natured inflection.

"Oh good. Promises of filthy things to come."

"UGH!" Liz rolled her eyes. "I'm still here, you know."

"And don't ever call me cupcake. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get Zoey and Ellie ready for school and then I have real patients to annoy at the hospital."

"Should we warn them?"

She narrowed her eyes at her husband, then leaned down to give Liz a kiss on the top of her head. "I love you."

"I love you too, Mom."

As Abbey brushed past him, Jed wiped the smile right off his face. "What about me?"

"What about you?"

"If I don't get a kiss, what do I get?"

"A lesson in consequences, you wisenheimer."

Jed wasn't about to let her get away without his kiss. Two steps away from the door, Abbey felt him tug on her waist. He drew a reluctant laugh out of her as he forcefully turned her around and pressed his mouth to hers, caressing her soft skin and brushing the hair out of her face all at once.

"Now, you may go," he said when he was done.

"Jackass," she smirked on her way out the room.

* * *

That morning, as the antibiotics worked on her strep throat, Liz walked sluggishly downstairs and headed towards the sofa in the family room where Jed had arranged a few blankets and pillows to make her more comfortable. He was looking forward to an afternoon with his eldest daughter, a chance to talk and to bond the way they used to.

He beat her at chess. Predictable, she claimed. She beat him at Shanghai Rummy, just as she always did. Later, Jed made a video run with a list of movies Liz had given him and despite the constant eye-rolling that went on, she forced him to watch with her. She even had the energy to manipulate him into learning a few Footloose dance moves afterwards.

Jed's escape came at 3 p.m. when he had to leave to pick up Ellie and Zoey from school. Liz vowed that when he returned, it was time to watch Tom Hanks in Splash, but fortunately, as far as Jed was concerned, he escaped the looming torture by cajoling all three girls into helping him with dinner.

Liz was in charge of the salad, Ellie stirred the potatoes, and Zoey sat on the counter beside her father, his official taste-tester as he slaved over a pot of his homemade gravy.

"All right, Zoey, tell me what you think."

Zoey opened her mouth wide for a spoonful of gravy. "Mmm. I like it!"

Jed chuckled. "You like everything."

"Uh uh. I don't like what Ellie makes. She doesn't know how to cook."

"Fine, Zo." Ellie stuck her tongue out at her sister. "Then you don't get any potatoes."

"I don't like potatoes."

"Yes, you do. You're just saying that now because I said you can't have any."

"I am not! Daddy, tell her I don't like potatoes."

Instead of wedging himself in the middle of the sibling war of wills, Jed looked over at Elizabeth sprinkling dressing over a mountain of greens. "So, Lizzie, what classes are you taking next year?"

"European History," Liz started.

"Great!" That was a class that was sure to get a nod of approval from Jed.

"Composition."

"Excellent!"

"American National Government."

"Terrific!"

"Acting For Horror Films."

"Acting what?" He was less enthused about that one.

Already on a roll, Liz lumped the last two in together. "Principles of Pantomime and the Philosophy of Calculus."

He thought he'd misunderstood her, but when it was clear he hadn't, Jed furrowed his brows and abandoned his pot of gravy. "Principles of what?"

"Pantomime."

"What are you talking about?"

"Pantomime, Dad. You know, the white-faced performers who act out scenes without speaking."

"You're taking that in school?"

"It's an elective."

"What the hell kind of elective is that?"

"It's an art, Dad. It's a lot of fun."

Impressed by it all, Ellie peeled her attention away from the potatoes. "Cool, Lizzie! Will you teach me how to do that thing with the box?"

"Sure, El. What they're doing is pretending they're inside a box."

"And what are you doing? Pretending you're in a real class?" Jed grumbled as he returned to his gravy.

"It IS a real class, Dad."

"You told me you were going to take French and Law Studies and 20th Century English Literature. What happened?"

"I was going to, but I changed my mind. I wanted to try something different."

"Oh, well, in that case, you succeeded. Horror film acting and miming are certainly different. One might say they're even peculiar and a bit unsettling." Though he was still shocked at her choices, he was simply teasing her now.

"Dad."

"What about math? What in the world is the Philosophy of Calculus?"

"It's about the art of Calculus. It takes more of a philosophical and psychological approach than a..."

"Than a mathematical approach. So instead of solving problems, you'll be taking tests that ask you to analyze how you FEEL about derivatives?"

"Are you going to be serious?"

"Okay, seriously, Elizabeth, why aren't you taking real Calculus? That's what you're going to need for college."

"I'll take it in college. Right now, this is what I want to take."

"Look, you're old enough to decide these things for yourself, but before I sign your registration form, I want you to think about it some more. I think you'll realize that you'll be better off taking other classes."

"I already thought about it. And even if I wanted to, I can't change my classes now. Mom already signed my form." Liz set the salad aside and fetched five plates from the cupboard.

"She did?" Jed was surprised he didn't get to weigh in on Liz's schedule.

"Yeah. She didn't have a problem with the classes I chose."

"I don't either," Ellie agreed. "I think they're cool, Lizzie!"

"Me too," Zoey chimed in.

Outnumbered by everyone in his family, Jed tried a different tactic, "I don't think there's anything wrong with it. I just think other classes will better prepare you for the real world. I mean, come on. Pantomime?"

"Dad..."

"Why do you want to walk around mute all day annoying the hell out of people with your imaginary box?" He moved his hands the way a mime in a box would do.

"It's what I want to take."

Jed saw her hang her head sadly while setting the table and realized she was no longer responding to his teasing. "Well, hey, if you want to learn to mime, I expect you to at least spill the secrets. You're gonna have to teach me how they pretend to make themselves walk against the wind."

"You're interested in mime?"

"I'm interested in everything. Also, I always wondered how those guys get all that gunk off their faces. Now there's a bit of trivia I can share with my colleagues in the House."

That cheered her up. "I'll tell you as soon as I learn!"

"I'm counting on it."

Liz bolted from the table to answer the ringing phone. "I'll get it!"

Relieved to see Liz in a better mood, Jed addressed Ellie next. "So, when's the science fair?"

"I don't know."

"Why not? Aren't you participating?"

"No."

"Why?"

Ellie was hoping Abbey had already broken the news, but she hadn't. The ten-year-old kept quiet and before Jed could pry it out of her, Abbey joined the foursome in the kitchen.

"Hey." She set her soft leather briefcase down on a chair.

"Hey, how was work?" Jed asked.

"Busy. What are you making?"

"Meatloaf."

"Mommy, Ellie said I can't have potatoes," Zoey squealed.

"Ellie's just kidding you," Abbey assured her.

Zoey was open to that possibility. "Can I have some of your potatoes, Ellie?"

"A few minutes ago, you said you didn't like potatoes."

"I do now."

"And if I say you can have them, you'll just say you don't want them."

"I will not!"

"Fine, Zoey. You can have all the potatoes you want. Happy?"

"Say it nicely please."

"Zoey..."

Standing side by side at the stove, Jed and Abbey tuned out their bickering daughters to carry on their own conversation.

"How come Ellie's not doing the science fair?"

That wasn't the first question Abbey expected. "I told you, she didn't want to give the presentation."

"Yeah, but you said you took care of it."

"I did."

"You and I have different opinions of taking care of it."

It had been a busy week. The night Abbey spoke to Ellie about the science fair, she had been so exhausted that she barely mentioned the details to Jed on the phone before bed. The next day, Liz's developing illness monopolized her attention, distracting her from telling him not only about Ellie's project but about finding Liz and Scott home alone together.

"Mom?" Liz hung up the phone and approached her mother. "Scott's parents are letting him use their condo outside of town for an after party after the Sweetheart dance next week. Can I go?"

"Is this a chaperoned party?"

"No."

"Then no way," Jed answered immediately.

Liz expected that, which is why she initially asked Abbey. But Jed wasn't used to being sidelined the way he was when Liz looked to Abbey despite his response. He, too, turned his eyes to his wife. In his case, he was hoping for back-up.

"I don't think so, Lizzie."

Though Liz knew from her tone that Abbey wouldn't change her mind, she tried anyway. "But you said you trusted me."

"I do trust you. That's why I'm letting you go to the dance itself. An after-party at Scott's family's condo was never part of the deal."

"But if you trust me, what difference does it make?"

"I trust you. I don't trust him."

That was news to Jed. "Why don't you trust him?"

"Later, Jed."

"If you trust me," Liz claimed, "then it shouldn't matter."

Abbey didn't fall for that line. "It does matter. You're smart enough to know that."

"Mom, please? I'll be home before curfew."

"The answer's no, Liz."

Liz sighed her annoyance at Abbey's final decision, then returned to setting the table. Jed, meanwhile, was confused about what had just happened. He felt left out of a conversation he didn't even understand and after a moment of silence between him and Abbey, he continued stirring his gravy.

"Here, Zoey. Have another taste."

"Jed." Abbey felt guilty for leaving him out of the loop. "I'll tell you all about it after dinner, okay?"

"Up until a few minutes ago, I thought we were having a pretty good day. Now, I don't know what the hell is going on around here."

"I know. It's been a crazy week."

"Yeah. I guess it has." Never had he felt so excluded and disengaged from his family.

TBC


	11. Chapter 11

Series: Snapshots of the Past

Story: Man of the House

Chapter 11

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Previously: Jed finds out how much he's missed while he's been in Washington

Summary: Jed and Abbey try to talk things out

- - -

* * *

"That's enough." Zoey pushed her mother's hand away to stop her from cutting the meat on her plate.

"You have to eat more than that," Abbey told her.

"I don't want more."

"Then you're not going to get dessert."

Defeated, Zoey scrunched up her lips and groaned, "Okay, but only a little bit more. I don't have to eat all my vegetables, right?"

"Of course you do."

"Vegetables too? I hate them!"

Across from the disgruntled preschooler, Liz unsuccessfully tried to reach the bowl of potatoes. "Ellie, pass the potatoes?"

To Liz's surprise, Ellie picked it up, but refused to hand it to her. "Only if you let me have first dibs on the TV after dinner."

"Forget it! It's Cyndi Lauper/Madonna night on MTV."

"Punky Brewster's on."

"Tough."

"Then make your own potatoes."

Dinner at the Bartlet house that night included a mix of traditional conversation, their usual teasing and bantering, and a smidgen of sibling rivalry. While Liz and Ellie clashed on who would get control of the television, Zoey, as usual, continued to try every scheme in the book to get out of eating her meal.

And when her other efforts failed, she directed attention to Liz. "How come Lizzie doesn't have to eat anything but mashed potatoes?"

"I'm sick, Zo. It hurts to swallow."

"It hurts me to swallow too."

"It does not." Abbey's voice was firm, distinctly serious. "Eat your dinner."

Unfazed by her mother's stare, the little girl started down a different path. "If I eat all my vegetables, can I have your dessert, Lizzie?"

"No way!"

"But you said it hurts you to swallow."

"Nice try, Zoey." Jed chuckled at that bit of manipulation. Zoey had a sweet tooth as strong as his and she had proven before that she wasn't above a little maneuvering to get two desserts. "We're having banana splits for dessert, soft enough for Elizabeth to eat."

"If I can ever get past dinner, that is." Liz turned to Jed for help. "Dad?"

"Ellie, enough fooling around. Pass your sister the potatoes."

Liz graciously accepted the bowl Ellie finally handed her. "Thank you."

After that minor detour, Abbey cast a gaze across the table at her husband. "Banana splits?"

"Yeah. And you can't complain since it's got bananas."

"You went all out on the sugar overload." She should have known ice cream addicted Jed was as bad as the girls sometimes.

"The main course was made with your own special meatloaf recipe. You gotta give me the dessert."

"My own special recipe included dessert - a fresh fruit tart or apple crisp."

"I overruled you on that. And I also tossed out the carrot juice suggestion."

"UGH!" Liz shrieked, followed by moans by Zoey and Ellie.

"See that?" Jed addressed his wife. "Give them something healthy, that's the kind of reaction you get."

"And with a banana split, you're their best friend for life." Abbey was used to this line of reasoning.

"Never hurts."

The sour feelings that seemed to grip Jed after learning he had been left out of decisions about Ellie's science fair and Liz's teenage romance had been swept aside until after dinner. To everyone's relief, there was no tension bubbling beneath the surface. At least, not at first.

"So about Sunday..." he began. "We have to leave right after church."

"For what?" Abbey asked.

"It's the opening of the district office. I told you about it last month."

"No, you didn't."

"Sure I did."

Zoey pulled her mother's sleeve to get her attention. "Mommy, do I have to eat ALL my vegetables AND my meatloaf?"

"I already told you, if you want ice cream, you do," Abbey replied before resuming her dialogue with Jed. "Jed, you didn't tell me. That's not something I would have forgotten."

"It was my first weekend home. You and I were making sandwiches for the girls and Ellie asked me why I can't just stay in Manchester and work here."

"Mommy, I can't eat any more supper."

"I explained to her that my office here won't be open until February..." Jed continued.

"That's quite different from telling me when the opening actually is," Abbey returned.

"Let me finish and you'll see that you're wrong."

"I highly doubt that."

"My tummy's too full." Zoey knew Abbey probably wouldn't fall for that, but she was desperate at this point.

"If your tummy's full, then I'm afraid you can't have dessert."

"Daddy says there's always room for dessert."

"I did tell you when the opening is," Jed interjected in the middle of Abbey's battle with Zoey.

"Daddy's mistaken," Abbey replied to her youngest daughter. "On both counts."

Jed went on, "I'm not mistaken, Abbey. You're the one with the faulty memory this time."

"Not possible. I always remember these kinds of things."

"Apparently, you don't," he teased. "I'll be gracious about it though."

"This is you being gracious?"

"But Daddy said I didn't have to eat it all," Zoey complained.

Jed was quick to defend himself as Abbey looked to him accusingly. "I told her she had to eat a little bit of everything, but that if she didn't like something, she didn't have to finish."

"That's great. After only two bites, she's about to say she doesn't like any of it." Abbey was familiar with every single one of Zoey's tactics.

"Daddy, can I have ice cream if I don't eat it?"

Abbey jumped in before Jed had a chance. "Zoey, I already told you no."

Stuck between the duo, Jed decided to support his wife when all eyes turned to him. "Zoey, why don't you eat what's on your plate? There's not much there."

"But you said I just had to eat a little."

"All right, then, how about a compromise? Eat half of everything on your plate and you can have your ice cream." Though Jed suspected his suggestion wouldn't be well received by Abbey, he made it anyway in an attempt to manage the situation himself.

Just as he thought, Abbey disapprovingly shook her head, choosing to bite back a verbal objection to avoid bombarding their young daughter with mixed messages.

"Okay, I'll eat half." The five-year-old dug in. Since Jed and Abbey disagreed on the matter, this was as good a victory as she was going to get.

"Can I only eat half too?" Ellie asked Abbey.

"Don't start. You love meatloaf."

"Not as much as I love ice cream." The fifth grader donned a grin and added, "And I know how important it is to you to treat us equally."

At least her strategy was lighthearted enough that it amused Abbey. "Eat your dinner, smarty pants."

"Can we get back to the office?" Jed returned to the subject at hand. "The night I told Ellie it was opening in February, you asked me for the exact date."

"You never said..."

"I told you it would be the Sunday before Valentine's Day," he insisted. "Ring a bell?"

It did, Abbey acknowledged. "A small one. I guess I forgot."

"I guess you did. I thought you were going to write it down."

"I might have, but I've been running around so much at work and at home, I've barely had a chance to glance at my personal datebook."

"Well, good thing I went ahead and changed Zoey's riding lesson to Saturday. I don't understand why it's not always on Saturday."

"I have to work some Saturdays," Abbey reminded him. "It's easier for me to take her to her lesson on Sunday."

"Have you thought any more about hiring that housekeeper?"

She paused in the middle of cutting her own meat. "Where did that come from?"

"Don't you want a housekeeper?"

"When I brought it up last month, you weren't excited about the idea."

"I was wrong," he admitted. "Things are so crazy around here, maybe it's the right move."

He had dismissed the thought of a housekeeper so quickly that the mention of it now was not only unexpected, but baffling until Abbey realized what was really going on - what changed Jed's mind was coming home and seeing how difficult it was for her to juggle everything by herself, an implication that immediately made her defensive.

"Things aren't crazy," she claimed. "A little busy maybe."

"If you don't even have time to look at your datebook..."

"I was exaggerating about that."

"Abbey, things are hectic. You said yourself before dinner that the reason you didn't tell me what's going on with the girls is because it's been a crazy week."

"Poor choice of words on my part."

"You also said a housekeeper could be a great help around here."

This was news to the girls. They glanced at one parent, then the other until Liz finally asked, "Wait a minute, we're gonna hire a housekeeper?"

"Yes," Jed answered.

"No," Abbey countered.

Her response confused Jed. "Why? You wanted one."

"I did and now I don't."

"What changed?"

"I changed my mind."

"Why?"

"Can we finish our meal in peace please?" she grumbled. "We'll discuss it later."

Jed wasn't trying to insult her and initially, he didn't even know he had. He took several seconds to replay his words in his mind, then he sat back in his chair, took a bite of his potatoes, and broke the silence by opening up a new topic of conversation.

"So, Ellie, what's happening in the fifth grade?"

- - -

* * *

After dinner that evening, Jed retreated to the study, where Abbey found him a little while later sitting behind his desk with his reading glasses perched on his nose. Beside him was a stack of envelopes. Bills, she guessed since he had his checkbook out in front of him.

He looked up at her over the rim of his glasses as she came in, but didn't say a word. Abbey approached him silently. Knowing he was displeased with the way they left things, she decided to start with a harmless proposition before delving in to the real issue.

"I can do that," she said. "I've already paid most of those bills."

"These are the ones that haven't been paid yet." He signed his signature to a check, then grabbed another envelope. "I know you've been busy. I'll take care of it."

"Just one more thing to support the notion that things are 'crazy' around here?"

Her sarcasm told Jed exactly what she was thinking. "Look, about that...I didn't mean it the way it sounded."

"Yes you did or else you wouldn't have changed your mind about the housekeeper." The fact that he returned to signing another check frustrated her. She snatched the pen out of his hand and tossed it to the side. "I'm trying to talk to you!"

"So NOW you want to talk?" Jed angrily leapt to his feet and as he did, he ripped his glasses off his face. "You cut me off earlier when I was the one who wanted to talk."

"I didn't want us to have this fight in front of the girls."

"What fight? If you hadn't jumped to conclusions, there wouldn't be a fight. That's what you always do, Abbey. You assign me any motive you want when I say something that annoys you."

"Since when?"

"You don't even need me for a fight. You're just going to twist my words to mean what you want them to mean anyway."

"I didn't twist anything. You want us to hire a housekeeper because you don't think I can handle things without one. You so much as admitted that."

"See, there you go again."

She couldn't understand the sudden surge of hostility and instead of trying, she headed to the door. "Forget it."

"Don't read more into what I said." Just as he hoped, that stopped her. "I wasn't judging you. I'm just trying to make things easier on you. I know how hard it is to balance everything. My point was that if a housekeeper will help, then it's fine with me."

"Why wasn't it fine before?"

"Does it really matter?"

"Yes, it matters," she shouted back to him as she spun around towards him.

"Fine, call it instinct. A few weeks ago when you first brought it up...even then, I felt like a third wheel...or a fifth wheel in this case. I didn't want another stranger here taking care of my children while I'm 500 miles away and out of their lives."

His harsh, yet honest words softened her a bit. "You're not out of their lives. And you're not a fifth wheel."

"So you say. If it was true, then you would have told me about Ellie's science fair and about whatever the hell is going on with Lizzie's boyfriend. I'm so out of the loop, I have no idea what I've even missed."

"I wasn't keeping those things from you."

"Then why didn't you tell me days ago?"

"Because we hardly get a chance to talk anymore."

"Meanwhile, our phone bill's outrageous so..."

"I mean REALLY talk, the way we used to."

"That's bull! No one talks more than we do."

"Shallow pleasantries, Jed. That's what it's turned into."

"The hell it has. We have honest and meaningful conversations."

"Really? When was the last time I told you how much I regret agreeing to you running for congress?" That was a confession she had never made before and it was clear by Jed's expression that it cut him deeply.

"You have regrets?" he asked in a less aggressive tone.

"I don't know what to call it." She turned to sit on the leather sofa. "Maybe regret isn't the right word. All I can tell you is that some nights, during my drive home from work, I imagine curling up in bed with you, falling asleep with your arms around me and forgetting about all my responsibilities...about patients and paperwork, about permission slips for the kids, about the cooking and the cleaning that still has to get done before I can go to sleep. I think about how things were just six months ago when I didn't have to make an appointment to call you during the day and I could see you whenever I wanted. I think about how happy I'd be just to see your face every night when I walk through the door, like I could then. And then I remind myself that that won't happen because you're not here anymore. Night after night, I remind myself of that and every day, it gets a little harder. This separation is overwhelming for me sometimes."

Jed strolled around the desk towards the sofa where she was sitting. He took the seat beside her, reaching out to stroke her hand as he sat down. Their eyes locked, allowing them each a glimpse at the emotions churning in the other.

"It's not any easier for me," he said softly. "Abbey, it kills me being away from you. Every Monday morning, I start counting down the hours until Friday when I can finally come home to you."

"I know. It hasn't gotten any better, has it?"

"No. If anything it's gotten more difficult. I feel so disconnected from you...from the kids. I don't like feeling as if I have no say in what's going on with them."

"That isn't true. Your role hasn't changed."

"Come on," he scoffed.

"Jed, I'm serious. You're still my husband. You're still their father. How can I make you see how important you are to all of us?"

"You can be straight with me. Why did you let Ellie opt out of the science fair?"

"I told you why."

"She didn't want to give the presentation, yeah, you told me that part. I know she doesn't like speaking in public. What I'm asking is why aren't you helping her overcome her fears instead of helping her run away from them?"

"I'm not going to force Ellie to do something that makes her that uncomfortable just so she can enter a science fair."

"It's not just about the science fair, Abbey. She's going to have to give presentations throughout school. You can't be there each and every time to get her out of it."

"She and I already talked about that. Next time, we're going to deal with it as soon as it comes up. We'll face it head-on."

"And just like that, she'll be fine?"

"No, not just like that. But she will be fine, Jed. I'll make sure of it."

Jed didn't agree with her logic. It wouldn't be that easy, he thought, to get Ellie over this hump at a time when it had to be done. If it was up to him, he'd ease her into it slowly, starting with the science fair so that when it came to giving a mandatory class presentation, she would have already conquered her fear. But it wasn't up to him this time. Abbey had plotted out a strategy and as difficult as that was to accept, he had no other choice.

"Okay."

"Okay? That's it?"

"Yeah." Out of respect for Abbey, he chose to drop it. "What about Lizzie?"

"She stayed home from school the other day."

"Yeah?" That part he already knew.

"I dropped in on her unexpectedly for lunch and I found her kissing Scott goodbye on the front porch."

"Kissing him goodbye? You mean she had him here in the house when you weren't home?"

"She knows she was wrong."

"I should hope so. She knows the rules about inviting her boyfriend over."

"He came over on his own, she didn't invite him."

"But she didn't turn him away either?"

Abbey eyes followed him as he stood. "Nothing happened, Jed."

"You fell for that?"

"I didn't fall for anything." She rose to face him. "She told me nothing happened and I believe her. I trust our daughter."

"I believe nothing happened because I know Lizzie has enough self-respect to turn him down. But she's covering for him. I'd bet this house he tried something."

"Yes, he did, as a matter of fact. And you're right, Elizabeth turned him down."

That bit of confirmation offered Jed some comfort. "So why is she going to the dance with him?"

"Because it was no big deal to her. She said no and he understood. End of story."

"He's going to try again. And this time, he'll be more aggressive."

"You don't know that."

"I know boys, Abbey. Teenage boys think with their hormones."

"You were a teenager. You managed to make it to adulthood without sleeping with every girl in town."

"That's different." He left it at that. "This kid has Lizzie totally snowed. She thinks the earth revolves around him. It's just a matter of time before he tries to wear her down. Trust me, if he tried it once, he'll try again."

"Maybe, but not at a school dance. She's in no danger there and as for the rest of the evening, I already told her she can't go to the after party. I'm banking on her honesty."

"Wasn't it just a few days ago that she hid her speeding ticket from you?"

"This isn't the same."

"Says who?"

"Says me," Abbey replied.

"Well, I think you're wrong. I don't want her going to that dance. In fact, I don't want her alone with him at all."

"Come on, Jed. They already bought the tickets, Liz has her dress picked out. I told her she can go. You can't go in there now and tell her she can't."

"I'm her father."

"If you forbid her from seeing Scott after I already gave her permission, you're going to push her right into his arms and you know it."

The last thing Jed wanted was to test Liz's stubborn will. "Why didn't you tell me about this sooner? If you had..."

"If I had, what would you have done? Blown up at her over the phone? Called Scott's house to tell him to stay away from her? I knew you would have had plenty to say about this, but you were in Washington. I thought it could wait a few days until you came home for the weekend."

"Yeah, and now you're tying my hands. So all that talk a few minutes ago my role in this family...that was all just crap?"

"No, of course not."

"Could have fooled me. I'm not their father, I'm just an interested party who gets to wave and nod every so often while you dictate what's best."

"If we're going to talk about this, then let's talk for real. I had to make a decision about Lizzie and I decided to give her the benefit of the doubt and let her go to this CHAPERONED dance at school. That doesn't mean you don't get a say in what happened or that your opinion doesn't count. It just means that you can't undermine me the way you did with Zoey at dinner."

"Excuse me?" Yet another curve ball as far as he was concerned. "What, because I told Zoey she didn't have to eat every little thing on her plate? Before you even came home, I made a deal with her that all she had to do was try everything. So who was the one doing the undermining there?"

"Once I told her she had to finish her meal, you should have backed me up."

"So it makes no difference whatsoever that I had already said one thing? All that matters is your final word?"

"We can't give her the impression that it's okay to ignore me during the weekend, then turn around and ask her to listen to me during the week. It can't work like that."

"It sure as hell can't work like this!" he snapped. "You really think I was the one who was wrong in dealing with Zoey?"

"It's not fair of me to expect you to back me when I contradict you, I know that. I just don't want to confuse her and I don't know what else to do. What do you want me to say?"

"Nothing. Saying something would imply that you think we have a problem and you obviously don't."

"I KNOW we have a problem." Fed up with his temper, she gave him a few seconds to cool off. Only after he began pacing the floor did she bother to speak. "Are you mad at me, Jed, or are you mad at the situation?"

"To tell you the truth, I'm not entirely sure."

"Do you trust me?" He stared at her speechlessly. "It's not a hard question. Do you trust me?"

"You're my wife. Of course I trust you."

"Not as your wife. As the mother of your children, do you trust me to do what's best for them, to raise them the right way?"

"You know I do. That's not my objection."

"Then what is your objection?"

"If you're here raising them by yourself with no input from me, then what exactly am I doing?" Jed Bartlet was a family man at heart. Compromising his relationship with his daughters was the hardest thing he had ever done.

"This is all because I didn't ask for your input one time about Liz?"

"Not just Liz, but yeah, that is the main thing."

"Don't you think you're overreacting?"

"No, as a matter of fact, because what you chose to do with Lizzie is exactly the opposite of what I would have done. And you knew that. You kept me in the dark because you wanted to do it your way. To hell with what I thought."

"That's not true."

"You put me in an impossible situation where I have to accept that our daughter is dating a creep who tried to bed her after dating her for less than a month. He's only after one thing and if I tell her that, then I'm the one she's going to resent. Admit it, Abbey, you made a mistake."

"You told me once during residency - life in this house doesn't stop just because you're not here. Things come up every single day and one of us needs to handle them."

He remembered that speech well. "This time it's you."

"This time it's me. And I don't think I'm being unreasonable by asking you for the same support I showed you when the situation was reversed."

With that, she swung the door and charged out of the study, leaving Jed alone with a wealth of remorse over how it ended. All he wanted now was to reach out to her, to open his heart and convince her that he did trust her even if he didn't always agree with her. And if he was going to be that honest, then he'd also tell her that it wasn't just the girls that had him so upset, that in some ways, he had regrets of his own about running for office. He felt lost in Washington among his political colleagues and being home made him even more sensitive to the uncertainty he carried around at work.

He gave himself time to calm down, then left the study in search of Abbey. As he passed through the living room, he found Liz reading a book on the couch after Ellie had won the battle over control of the television.

"Mom went for a walk," she informed him. "She didn't look too happy. Did you guys have a fight?"

"You could say that."

"She's doing the best she can, Dad. Things aren't as crazy as you think."

"Stay out of it, Lizzie." Jed started towards the foyer.

"Why?" She set aside her book and followed him. "I'm here all the time. I see how exhausted she is when she comes home from the hospital and how hard she's working here at home to take care of everything and chauffeur Ellie and Zoey all over town. She's doing a really great job of making things work."

"Since when are you her loyal defender?" Jed regretted that. He didn't want Liz's interference, but the mother-daughter relationship had taken such a hit during the campaign that he was afraid things would never be the same between Abbey and Liz. Liz's defense of Abbey now suggested he was wrong and he was happy about that. "Look, I know she's doing the best she can. I don't need you to tell me she's a great mother and an incredible wife. I already know that."

"Then maybe you should tell her because I don't think she does."

"Whatever is happening between me and your mother is between us. At some point this weekend, you and I are going to have a long talk about this boyfriend of yours and what happened here the other day."

"I figured."

"It's going to have to wait til later." He slipped into his coat and flipped the collar before he opened the door to traipse out far enough to notice Abbey sitting on the front steps. "Lizzie said you went for a walk."

Abbey didn't turn back, though she did hear the door close behind him. "My plans changed."

"How come?"

"I stormed out so quickly, I forgot my shoes." She pulled on her pants to show him her feet covered only in a pair of winter socks.

"Why didn't you come back in?"

"You can't just go back in after you storm out like that. It ruins the effect and destroys the credibility of what it is you're pissed about in the first place."

Jed wandered closer. "You're more pissed at me now than you were at dinner, aren't you?"

"That's an easy deduction. I'm less pissed at you now than I was a few minutes ago in the study. Figure that one out."

"You can't resist my outdoorsy charm?" he joked to lighten the tension. Abbey's eyes, still lingering with confrontation, sliced him in half. "I don't know. I give up. Tell me why."

"You might have been just a tiny, tiny little bit, sort of, partially, in a roundabout kind of way, right." She was quick to add, "Only about the Zoey part. Nothing else."

"I can live with that."

"I wish you hadn't made that deal with her, but once you did, I should have respected that. And, I guess I can understand why you're mad about Liz. You're not one of those fathers who doesn't care enough to be involved in his children's lives. I'm sitting here reminding myself that you care so much that you can't help being a jackass when it involves the girls."

"Am I supposed to be relieved or insulted?" He caught the hint of a smile before she tried to cover her tracks. "Not to start another round of...whatever that was in there, but..."

"Don't."

"What?"

"Don't tell me it was all my fault. If you do, I'm going to have to beat you."

"Or you could just accept full responsibility and we'll call it a day." It was his turn to smile now. "What I was going to say is that whether or not it shows, I do support you. I think you're doing a hell of a job with the girls, regardless of what went on this week. I just want to be aware of these things, you know?"

"Yeah."

"I won't tell Liz she can't go to the dance."

"The dance isn't really our problem, is it?"

"No, I guess it isn't." Jed made his way towards her as Abbey raised her hand to accept his. "I've been away for about six weeks now and it just hit me like a ton of bricks tonight. First with Ellie, then with Lizzie. I was clueless about what was going on with my own daughters."

He sat down next to her.

"Believe it or not, I know how you feel. When I was an intern, before Zoey was born, there were weeks when it seemed like I barely had a chance to check in with you and Liz and Ellie. I felt isolated, like you guys had your own thing going and I was just a spectator watching from the sidelines."

"That's exactly it. That's how I feel - like a spectator."

"It'll get better."

"You always say that."

"Has there even been a time when you've been miserable and it didn't get better?"

His response was a warm smile. "I just want it to be like it was last year. Both of us coming home at the end of the day, cooking dinner together, playing scrabble. I want it to be like it was before."

"How can it possibly be like it was before you went to Washington?"

"I don't know." He wrapped one arm around her, then the other. "Very few representatives and senators move their families to Washington. Most of them do what we do. How do you suppose they do it?"

"Any of them have phone bills as outrageous than ours?"

"No one on the planet has a phone bill as outrageous as ours. Did you see that thing? It didn't even fit in the regular phone company envelope. They had to upgrade a size."

"They probably charged us for that too." She positioned herself so that her back was to his front and she could lean against his frame.

"Wouldn't surprise me, the money-grubbing leeches. I'll deal with the bill, but the next time you force me to watch Dynasty on the phone with you, I'm going to have to put my foot down."

"Put your foot down? Is that code for something?"

"You know what I mean." Abbey bent her neck to look up at Jed as he dropped a kiss to her lips. "Speaking of that, there's another kind of bill I haven't told you about yet. You know, the one I bailed on this weekend."

"What was it?"

"A safe sex bill, ironically."

"Safe sex?" she asked as she sat up so she could face him.

"For teens. They want condoms in the schools and I would have had to vote no, so I left because my staff told me that's what I had to do in order to avoid ruffling any feathers. What do you think about that?"

"Why would you vote against a safe sex bill?"

"That's not what I was asking. I want to know what you think about me running away from the vote."

"We'll get to that in a moment. Why would you vote against it?"

"Because it wasn't part of an educational program. Giving out condoms willy-nilly to teenagers doesn't sit well with me. And if anything, what I learned tonight about our eldest daughter only helped to confirm that."

"Are you kidding?"

"No. If there's a bill that guarantees kids will receive enough information to make an informed choice about having sex, I'll get excited. But this one falls short. It's like giving them the green light to act on their hormones without a sliver of wisdom about the consequences."

"I think they know the consequences."

"Not the way they should. No one wants to even talk about abstinence these days. I say giving them an alternative viewpoint can't hurt." Jed was caught by her silence. "What? You don't agree?"

"I don't know. A few years ago, I would have said you were right..."

"There's nothing stopping you from saying it now."

"Now, I think you might be wrong. Forcing teenagers to listen to a lecture about abstinence before giving them condoms is likely to make them rebel against the whole thing. And never has it been more important to prevent that than it is now. With AIDS and STDs as widespread as they are in high schools, keeping them alive should take first priority."

"Hm." Her response hit him hard.

"What?"

"Nothing. I just assumed you'd agree with me."

"I agree that abstinence is important, but I'm being realistic here, Jed. The hospital is crowded with teenagers who should be at the movies with their friends and at prom with their dates instead of showing up for their monthly med checks. Did your staff agree with you?"

"What does that matter?"

"You didn't throw out a typical Jed Bartlet retort when I gave my opinion. That leads me to believe that I'm not the only one who thinks you're wrong."

"No, you're not. You're just the one who surprised me."

He was sitting in such a way that his legs were bent at the knees and his feet were planted on the step below. Abbey moved close enough to place her hand on one knee and rest her chin on top of it. From her vantage point, she opened her eyes wide to look up at him.

"Well, you haven't convinced me yet."

"You're open to the possibility?"

"Aren't I always?" she gave him a supportive nod. "I just have a request before you outline the three dozen reasons you're right."

"I have one too."

"You go first."

"I'll hear you out," he said, "but you have to give me the same courtesy and I don't mean sitting there and pretending to listen while slicing and dicing my argument in your head."

He knew her well. "Anything else?"

"No. What's your deal?"

"If I expose my poor feet to this frigid weather for another moment, I think I'm going to lose my big toe."

"We'll go inside." Chuckling, Jed stood up, holding out his hand to help Abbey. As she rose, he asked, "Are you up for a steamy mug of hot chocolate?"

"As long as we can cuddle under the covers afterwards. I have a feeling it's going to be a long night."

TBC


	12. Chapter 12

Series: Snapshots of the Past

Story: Man of the House

Chapter 12

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Previously: Jed and Abbey aired their complaints about their situation; Abbey gave Liz the benefit of the doubt after catching her in a compromising position with her boyfriend (Chapter 8)

Summary: Jed tells Liz exactly what he thinks of Scott; caught in the middle of her daughter and her husband, Abbey suggests a compromise

- - -

* * *

"Abbey? Can you come here a sec?"

Abbey threw her hairbrush on the bed and followed the sound of Jed's voice into the master bathroom where he stood holding his shaving cream in his hand and gesturing to the counter crowded with his wife's make-up, cleansers, toners, and facial masks.

"Yeah?"

"I realize I'm not always here to claim my spot, but would you mind leaving me..." he held his fingers an inch apart. "...maybe this much counter space for the days I am."

"I did."

"If you had, my shaving cream wouldn't have been rolling around on the floor for the second time this weekend."

"I must have knocked it over by accident." She pushed her things slightly off to the side. "Better?"

"Not really." He shoved them over even more until they were teetering too close to the edge to go any further, leaving him a wide open canvas on which to place a single can of shaving cream. "There."

"That doesn't look ridiculous to you?" she asked. "Why do you need all that room for your shaving cream?"

"It's not about the shaving cream. This is how we always did it before. You had your side and I had mine."

"Yes, but since you're not here during the week, I figured I could spread things out."

"That's fine, so long as you pull them back in on the weekend. And why does it seem like you have more stuff than you did before?"

"It's not more stuff. It just looks that way because I took advantage of all the free space."

"Free space is only free space when you're living alone."

"Is this going to be your nitpick of the day?" She chided, walking out of the bathroom.

"No. My nitpick of the day is going to be the same as yesterday - I want my soap on a rope back." He stubbornly picked up his razor and shut the door behind her.

"You never even used it!" she reminded him in a voice loud enough to penetrate the closed door.

"That's not the point. I got used to it hanging in the shower and swinging back and forth every time I bumped it."

"Every time you bumped it, you complained about how much you hated it."

"Yeah, well, now I miss it. It had its place in my morning routine and I'm annoyed that you tossed it out without asking me."

"We'll buy you a new one."

"You bought the old one before you knew I'd never use it. Getting a new one I'll never use is just a waste of money."

"So you're just going to bitch about it all day?"

He made an appearance to say, "I thought I might."

The tension that gripped the couple just two days earlier hovered over them throughout the weekend. It was no longer a fight, in the traditional sense. Since they had hashed out their differences Friday night, neither could pinpoint an appropriate reason to be angry with the other.

Both were agitated now. Jed was still having a difficult time accepting what he felt was his marginalized role in the family and Abbey, sensing his frustration, reacted with a few grumpy quips of her own, leading to several exchanges laced with sarcasm and mild sniping to start this Sunday morning.

- - -

* * *

"Zoey, what are you eating?" Jed caught sight of the youngest of the Bartlet clan as he and Abbey made their way down the stairs a half hour later.

"It's cheese," the little girl replied, her mouth filled to the max.

"It's Feta cheese, Jed," Abbey informed him. "And I suspect Miss Zoey was on her way upstairs to ask me to make her a sandwich."

"Uh huh." Zoey emphatically confirmed that suspicion.

Chuckling, Abbey dabbed her daughter's mouth with a tissue when they reached the bottom landing. "You can eat what you have in your hand, but after that, I want you to save room for some waffles, okay?"

"Okay. I like waffles!"

"Since when do we have Feta cheese?" Jed asked. "I've only ever had it on a Greek salad."

"Here. Try it like this." Abbey broke off a tiny piece of the pita bread Zoey had in her right hand and smeared it with a drop of cheese she had in her left, then turned to her husband and slipped it into his mouth. "It's delicious, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it's pretty good."

"I've been mixing the cheese with some cucumbers and wrapping it up inside a pita pocket as a sandwich for the girls for breakfast on the mornings I have to be in especially early."

"And they like it?"

"They love it. It's nutritious and they're a snap to make. I just store them in the fridge until they wake up so they can grab it and head out the door."

"Right. It's all part of the new breakfast thing we do around here. Eat and run." He saw the way she clenched her jaw at that comment, as if she consciously stopped herself from throwing a snide response back in his face. "Sorry, I won't say another word about it."

Abbey turned her attention back to Zoey. "Do me a favor, sweetie. Tell your sisters to wash up and get down here to set the table."

"Okay, but Ellie's still asleep."

"Still?"

Elizabeth approached the top of the stairs and saw her family standing at the bottom. "She woke up and then decided she was still tired so she went back to bed,"

"I don't have the energy to fight with her today," Abbey sighed. "Jed?"

"I'm on it." Jed passed Liz mid-way up. "Nice hair."

"Leave me alone." The teen fluffed her already teased ends a bit more until she noticed her mother's disapproving scowl.

"Are you sure you feel well enough to go out?" Abbey quizzed her as she pressed a hand to her forehead.

"Yeah."

"Good. Then go brush your hair."

"Mom, this is how everyone does it."

"Not for church. Smooth it down."

- - -

* * *

While mother and daughter argued the flaws and merits of big hair, Jed quietly crept into Ellie's room. As he made it closer to her bed, he saw her move slightly, lifting her arm to cover her eyes with her blanket. She was awake, he realized, and that's when he kneeled down beside her mattress and wrestled the covers off her face.

"Ellie, it's time to get up, sweetheart."

"Five more minutes."

"Mom's starting breakfast. You need to jump in the shower and get ready for church."

"Can I skip church today?"

"Are you sick?" He touched the back of his hand to her forehead just as Abbey had done with Lizzie downstairs.

"No. I'm tired."

"How late were you up last night?"

"Daddy, let me sleep," she grumbled, twisting her body away from him. It alarmed her when he didn't respond. Abbey always responded so she was immediately suspicious when Jed didn't. She rolled back over and propped herself up on her elbows. "What?"

"What what? I'm just hanging out."

"You're not going to make me get up?"

"I figure you'll get sick of me standing over you eventually and that'll force you to get up on your own."

"You're gonna stay here until I wake up?"

"Yeah." He wandered over to her bookcase for something to read. "Hmm, 'A Midsummer Night's Dream.' Is this an adaptation of some sort?"

"No, it's real."

"You're reading Shakespeare?"

"I took it from Lizzie's room. Every page has Shakespeare on one side and a translation on the other in case I don't understand."

"Which one do you read more often - the translation or the Shakespeare?"

"Both the same only because I wanna get really good at the Shakespeare."

He beamed proudly at that. "You don't mind if I stand here and read, do you?"

"No." Ellie shook her head as she collapsed onto her mattress.

He flipped the pages rather loudly, mumbling words even louder. Ellie pounced her pillow, snatching it from under her head and tossing it over her face to drown out the noise, but Jed didn't surrender.

"'Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind, and therefore is wing'd Cupid painted blind.'" He read that one line, then bookmarked the page with his finger. "Come on. You mean to tell me that even with the translation, you know what that means?"

"Yes," Ellie insisted tightly from under her pillow.

"I bet you don't."

That did it. She stripped her face of the pillow. "I bet I do."

"You're way too young to know what that means."

"I am not!" She sat up, full of energy, ready to prove him wrong. "I know ALL about 'A Midsummer Night's Dream.' It's one of my favorite books in the whole world!"

"Okay, then I challenge you to tell me about it."

His triumphant smile snuck right past her. She crawled out of bed without a second thought, followed him out of her room, accepted a towel from the linen closet, and continued an emphatic tirade that included explaining the minute details of the plot of the Shakespearean tale until the moment she closed the bathroom door to prepare for her shower. Only then did it hit her that she'd been hoodwinked by a mind more devious than her own.

"It's NOT funny how you tricked me!" she shouted through the door.

"I'll be waiting for you to finish at breakfast," he snickered. As he began the trek downstairs, he said to himself, "Trumps Abbey's water gun."

- - -

* * *

"When I have kids, I'm gonna let them wear their hair any way they want because I'm gonna know all they're doing is expressing their individuality."

Liz set the kitchen table for breakfast, her chestnut locks now in a more conservative style, to Abbey's delight. They were long and thick, falling softly just below her chest. The sides had been brushed off her face and pinned in the back with a pretty 80s-style bow.

Amused at her bitter gripe, Abbey goaded her. "But, Lizzie, how can it be their individuality when 'this is how everyone does it'?"

"And I'm also not gonna throw their words back in their face."

"You're going to deny yourself some of the pleasure of being a mother then."

Liz gave her a narrow-eyed groan, then changed the subject. "Is it okay if Scott comes over after church?"

"No, it isn't. Your dad and I are going to be out."

"Can we go to Friendly's for a bite to eat then?"

"NO," Jed replied as he made his way to the kitchen and intersected the conversation between the two ladies.

"Mom?"

That was the modus operandi of all the Bartlet girls - like most kids, when one parent gave them an answer they didn't like, they turned to the other parent with hopes of better results. In this case, though, the fact that Liz ignored him aggravated an already sensitive Jed.

Instead of waiting for Abbey to support him, he snapped at his eldest daughter. "Elizabeth, did you hear me? I said no."

Abbey added, "Your dad said no and I'm saying you're still grounded for the speeding ticket incident."

Liz settled on Jed. "So you hate him now?"

"I don't hate him. I hardly even know him."

"Then what?"

"He's been with other girls."

It was a statement rather than a question. Liz glanced over at Abbey, a look of disappointment - not surprise - that she had shared that intimate little detail with Jed. Abbey felt a flash of regret, as if she had betrayed the heart-to-heart she and Liz shared about Scott, but just as quickly as it came, it disappeared with the knowledge that Jed deserved to know the whole story.

"He's been with other girls," Liz confirmed. "So what?"

"So that's the kind of relationship he expects. Since I know that's not the kind of relationship you're ready for, maybe it's time to call it quits."

"I don't wanna do that. I'm happy. Why are you judging him?"

"Because I think you deserve better. If it was up to me and me alone, you wouldn't be seeing him anymore."

"You can say that without even giving me a chance to tell you what happened? Without hearing my side of the story?"

"Your side doesn't matter right now. He tried to take advantage of you."

"No, he didn't. As soon as I told him to stop, he stopped."

"Yeah, for how long?"

"Jed." Abbey, knowing her husband's mood might compromise the chance for an honest discussion of the topic at hand, attempted to intervene.

"So he tried something one time," Liz admitted with no concern. "Big deal. It isn't like he pressured me or anything. I told him no and that was that. He won't try it again."

"Lizzie, you are so naive. You've been going out with him for a month. A MONTH. No good, decent boy who's looking for a real relationship with a girl does that after a month. And even if time weren't the issue, his actions proved to me at least that he's not the kind of boy I want you with."

"That's so unfair. You don't even know him."

"I don't have to know him. I know how he behaved. You know, when your mom is sick, the only thing on my mind is making her feel better. That's how it is now, that's how it was when I first met her."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Any boy who comes over with the sole intention of getting lucky, despite the fact that his girlfriend has strep throat, is only thinking of himself. He didn't give a damn that you weren't feeling well or that your defenses were down. You were more vulnerable than usual and I think it says something about his character that he waited until that moment to make a move."

"You act like I was in ICU or something! It was just a sore throat, Dad. And he asked how I was feeling."

"How chivalrous of him. By the way, did he get it? The strep?"

"Yes and he's on antibiotics. Does that make you happy?"

"Not happy. The irony paints quite a picture though."

"My relationship with Scott is based on a deep connection that only we share. He was just trying to strengthen our bond."

It was hard, but out of respect for his daughter, Jed managed not to roll his eyes at that comment. "He was trying to satisfy himself is what he was doing. He couldn't care less about this bond you think you have."

Liz dismissed Jed's statement with a shake of her head, already feeling the sting of what she was hearing. "He cares about me."

"About that part of you, sure."

"JED!" Abbey called his name in a tone strong enough to give him pause. "Liz, finish setting the table."

After setting down the last of the dishes, Liz started to leave the kitchen, mumbling on her way out, "Let me know when we're ready to go. I'm not very hungry."

"Wait a second."

She stopped and turned towards the sound of her father's voice defensively. "I don't wanna talk about it anymore."

The layer of tears that clouded her eyes made Jed regret the last thing he said. He wanted her to face the truth, but he never wanted to make her cry. "Lizzie, honey, no matter what you think, I love you. I'm not trying to hurt you. I'm so sorry that I did. I was too blunt and I wish I hadn't been. Let's try a different approach, okay?"

"You have more to say?"

"A lot more. For starters, you're not the only one who's pissed about this. You knew the rules about having boys over when your mom and I aren't home and you invited him in anyway."

She spoke in a more persuasive tone now, as if begging for understanding. "He came over on his own and he asked if he could just come in for a minute. I didn't think..."

Jed interrupted her, "I got the story. I'm just saying, you opened yourself up to a potentially bad situation and I'm going to make sure you don't do that again."

"I won't. I'm not an idiot, Dad. I know there are some guys who only care about sex and nothing else. Scott's not like that. He's different."

"I really hope he is, for your sake. But I can't be sure of that and because I have my doubts, I'm going to act like a father. When you have kids - a very, very, very, VERY long time from now - you'll understand that your children are the most precious people in the world to you. You would give your life to protect them and to always keep them safe, not just from danger but from broken hearts as well. That's all I'm trying to do here. I don't want to see you get hurt."

"He won't hurt me. You just have to give him a chance."

"No, I don't. You can go to the sweetheart dance with him since your mom already signed off on that. But as far as I'm concerned, that's it."

"What do you mean that's it?" Liz looked to Abbey for help. "Aren't you going to say something?"

"Your dad's just looking out for you."

"You said you trusted me, Mom. What happened to that?"

It wasn't often that Abbey was speechless, but in this fight between Jed and Liz, she couldn't find the right words to please them both with a compromise. She allowed Jed to take the lead that morning, knowing that he only wanted to do what was best for Liz and that she was still conflicted about what that was. It was obvious to Liz she wasn't going to win this one. Her parents weren't going to contradict one another, no matter how she much she wanted them to. She spun on her heels and stomped out of the kitchen.

This time, Jed didn't stand in her way. Instead, he took a seat at the table. "Tell me I was wrong."

"You were wrong," Abbey returned.

"That's all you've got to say?"

"She has feelings, Jed, and you just crushed them."

"By being straight with her?"

"You didn't have to be cruel about it."

"Did you want me to lie to her? Did you want me to tell her that Scott is her prince charming and that he loves her as much as she loves him? You're giving me a hard time for telling her the truth? You're willing to let her continue dating him?"

"Scott's a jerk and yes, I think you were right in what you said. She was more vulnerable than usual when he came over and he did pick that moment to try something. That bothers me too. But Lizzie is 16. You forbid her from seeing her boyfriend and guess what she's going to do."

"So we give in and let her do whatever she wants because she'll do it anyway? Who's the parent here?"

"You know what I did when my dad hated my boyfriend when I was 16? I gave him the silent treatment for a week - my dad, not the boyfriend. Every time he tried to tell me what I didn't want to hear, I channeled my anger towards him into trying to prove him wrong. At that age, I thought a silly high school romance was the most important thing in the world and anyone who dared to mock it - or worse, mock me for the way I felt - was the enemy, not the protector."

"I didn't mock her."

"Telling her that Scott couldn't possibly be interested in her for anything other than sex is even worse. Did you see her face? She wasn't angry. She was hurt and insulted that her own father thinks that boys would show interest in her for only that reason."

"That isn't what I think! It's THIS situation, THIS boy!"

"I know it is! I'm just giving it to you from her perspective, how it might have sounded to her. That's why she walked out of here. What you should have done is reason with her."

"Thanks for the tip. I notice you were practically silent the entire time."

"It was your choice to bring it up now. You knew this was a fight we weren't going to have time to finish this morning. I wasn't going to help you break her heart."

"I apologized for what I said. I won't apologize for thinking it." He stood, replying, "We're her parents, Abbey. It's our responsibility to tell her the truth. If we don't, who will? As much as it hurts, she needs to hear it."

Just outside the kitchen, Zoey sat with Ginger in her arms. She cuddled the fury kitten as she eavesdropped on her parents unapologetically, even after she saw Ellie out of the corner of her eye.

"What's going on?" the older girl asked.

"They're fighting about Lizzie."

Ellie was the one most affected by the strife of the past few days. Unlike Liz who accepted the fact that arguments between Jed and Abbey seemed inevitable at times and would undoubtedly blow over on their own, conflict - whether significant or minor - made Ellie feel uncomfortable. She stuck around for another minute and when she heard no hint of a lull in the disagreement, she turned and headed back upstairs.

"Call me when it's time to eat."

- - -

* * *

A short while later, Abbey scanned the faces of her loved ones gathered around the kitchen table. Ellie and Zoey ate in silence while Liz and Jed both poked at the syrupy waffles on their plates without ever taking a bite.

Her heart broke for both of them - Liz for her bruised ego and injured pride at being forced to face the reality that her boyfriend might not be the guy she thought he was. And Jed for always diving in with the best intentions and ending up feeling like a lousy parent. His only flaw in that department was that his love for his daughters made him an overprotective dad. He didn't deserve to be criticized for that the way she criticized him.

She wrestled with the idea playing in her mind for several minutes, then, as the sound of clinking utensils devoid of any conversation got to be too much, she threw out a suggestion that forced four pairs of stunned eyes to turn in her direction.

"I was thinking that maybe we could invite Scott over for dinner before the dance on Saturday." She looked at each of her daughters before addressing Jed. "You said yourself you barely know him."

"You're not serious."

Jed's reaction was hard for anyone to read. He was either angry that Abbey made such a suggestion in front of Liz or he was about to embrace the opportunity to turn things around and reach a compromise with his daughter. Ellie wasn't certain, so she tried to tune out the rest of the conversation as she took a sip of her juice and continued eating.

"I am serious," Abbey told him. "We already gave Lizzie permission to go to the dance. They're going anyway. What harm does it do to sit down with her and Scott beforehand?"

"I think that's a great idea," Liz agreed, looking to Jed to hear her plea. "Give him one more chance, Daddy. Meet him again. You can ask him anything you want. If you still disapprove..."

"You'll accept that and stop seeing him?"

Liz paused for a second, then gave him a smile and said, "We'll see."

That smile of hers softened Jed's tone. He didn't like fighting with Liz any more than she liked fighting with him, so though he was convinced that his theory about Scott was right on target, he considered the compromise as a way of calling a truce.

"So you'd have dinner here and then go to the dance?" He was trying to buy time to battle the pros and cons in his head. "What if I change my mind about letting you leave with him?"

"You won't. I know you won't. If you give him another chance, you'll see that he's not a bad guy, I know it! Please, Dad? Just try?"

"This doesn't change what I said earlier. I'm not going back on that."

"Just meet him one more time. That's all I'm asking."

Jed glanced at Abbey. "I want it on the record that I'm doing this only because it means so much to Liz and that I'm under no obligation to like this kid or change my mind about letting her see him."

"Duly noted."

"Thank you!" Liz leapt from her chair. "I have to go call him."

"You can call him when you finish breakfast," Abbey ordered as she gestured towards the empty chair.

"I guess it can wait." Liz mouthed a word of 'thanks' to her mother, then sat back down. "Ellie, pass the orange juice please?"

- - -

* * *

"Explain it to me again." Jed followed a rushed Abbey into their bedroom after church.

"The shoes are taupe, the pantyhose are nude."

"There's a difference?"

"Yes, there is." Abbey retrieved another pair of hose. "I didn't notice I wasn't wearing the darker pair until I looked down before the homily."

"And the world came to a shattering end." That earned him one of those contemptuous frowns he hated.

"You wanna go to this thing alone?"

"What difference does the color of your hose make? No one's even going to know."

"It's going to bug ME all afternoon." She watched as he paced in front of her, his hands in his pocket. "And it wouldn't kill you to change your tie."

With furrowed brows, Jed wrapped his fingers around his tie. "What's wrong with my tie?"

"It's your candy cane tie."

"My what?"

"It looks like a candy cane."

"Why didn't you say something earlier?"

"You didn't ask me earlier."

"I didn't ask you now either."

"Yeah, but now you're hovering over me."

"I don't hover. I watch with great interest." He took a few steps to the closet and surveyed his other ties. "Don't think I don't know what you just did there. You're peeved that I made fun of you for being self-conscious about your hose so in order to get me back, you made a crack about my tie."

"To get you back? What am I, five?" Abbey stood to pull the top of her hose up to her waist and under her dress.

"Which tie?"

"The tie you have on is fine."

"You can't tell a man he resembles a candy cane and expect him to get over it and move on. Now come on, we're going to be late. Tell me which tie."

She joined him in the closet. "We wouldn't be late if you had asked me this question before church."

"Twenty minutes away from the opening of the district office, let's pick this moment to teach me a lesson."

Pulling out his blue tie - a favorite of hers - Abbey urged him to get rid of the other one. Jed draped the new one under his collar, a slow and sloppy start until Abbey pushed his hands aside and took over.

"Do you intentionally make a mess of it around me just so I'll do it for you?"

"I'm clever like that," he shot back with a spirited grin.

"I don't know how you manage by yourself in Washington."

"I show up to work with a messy tie."

"Not so. You always look suspiciously neat and put-together on the floor of the House."

"You see what I look like on the floor of the House?"

Their eyes met as she tightened the loop and those expressive green eyes of hers betrayed her by telling him what she hadn't - a newly purchased television set was the most prized possession in her office these days, because every afternoon, while charting or taking a quick breather or sip of coffee between patients, Abbey turned on CSPAN to watch her husband in action.

"If I didn't know better, I'd think you had a woman living with you just to help you tie your tie in the morning." She patted down his collar.

"No other woman has your touch." Jed took her hand before she pulled it away. He pressed his lips to the back of her fingers, kissing them softly, the way he frequently did as a gesture of appreciation. "I see the difference by the way."

"What?"

"Your shoes," he said, looking down. "As crazy as it sounds, I see what you mean about the hose."

"Would you have noticed on your own?"

"Not in a million years, which is why I still think it's absurd that we came all the way back home just for that."

"And your tie."

"And my tie, the one I never would have changed if I hadn't..."

"Hovered."

"...watched with great interest while you changed your hose. Admit it, you didn't have a problem with my other tie."

"Oh, Jed," she sighed. "Why is it that when you get something like this in your head, you refuse to let it go?"

"It's my thing. You have your thing, I have mine."

"What's my thing?" He cocked his brow at her. "Besides the shoe thing."

"You don't think that's neurotic enough?"

"Not to me. The press is going to be there."

"If the cameras zero in on your feet even once, I'm hiring a new speech writer."

Together, they walked out of the bedroom and down the stairs. It had been a rocky weekend, but it wasn't the first and they both realized it probably wouldn't be the last. It was a natural thing, the frustration they felt about the changes in their lives. They knew that it would pass once they grew more comfortable with their distance. They'd survive this together, for despite this bump in the road, their marriage was as strong as it had been just two months earlier.

TBC


	13. Chapter 13

Series: Snapshots of the Past

Story: Man of the House

Chapter 13

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Previously: After Jed and Lizzie's fight over Scott, Abbey negotiated a compromise between her husband and her daughter

Summary: Abbey reminisces about the birth of each of her three daughters

- - -

* * *

As a young girl, Abigail Barrington had encircled her wrist three times with her thumb and middle finger, a folklore prediction that she would one day be a mother to three children. She dreamed of a girl for her first-born, a baby as beautiful as an old baby doll she had with creamy white skin and hair the color of chestnut. Her dream came true on a rainy London night in March 1968, the night Elizabeth Ann Bartlet was born.

Jed's eyes held the tears of a proud, yet terrified father that evening. "Oh my God, Abbey, she's so tiny."

"And so beautiful," Abbey added. "Look at that. She's got her daddy's face."

So innocent and fragile, Abbey's hands trembled when she held the baby for the very first time. Elizabeth was to be her name, in its full, traditional form, but 'Lizzie' soon worked its way off her parents' tongues, mainly because the infant's playful spirit and angelic face commanded the nickname. Abbey often sang to her the lyrics of an old 1940s song that reminded her of her daughter.

There you are, my Lizzie girl

Welcome to this crazy world

Ribbons and bows and dolls with curls

Will never be as precious as my Lizzie girl

Abbey cherished the memories of being a young mother, from the little things like leaning down over Lizzie's crib and running her hands over her baby-soft hair or the silky smooth skin of her pudgy little cheeks to watching her grow into a toddler, so strong-willed and daring that her parents struggled to keep up. Elizabeth didn't actually learn to walk, Abbey often said. Lizzie took one step on a beautiful spring day, then sprinted the rest of her life, usually in the path furthest from her mother.

"Elizabeth Ann Bartlet, if you don't get back here right now..."

Chasing after her during the terrible two's was routine in the Bartlet home.

"Hey. What's going on?" Jed had come to expect to see his wife running to find their daughter every night when he returned from LSE.

"Jed, help me!"

"What did she do this time?"

"She finger-painted the walls," Abbey grumbled, unamused. "And don't you dare smile and say it's cute."

"She's a baby, Abbey. Everything she does is cute."

"Are you going to help me?"

"She's two years old. You can't catch a two-year-old?"

"I CAN catch her. It's what I'm going to do to her AFTER I catch her!"

"Daddy! Daddy!" The brazen little delinquent made a bold effort to run directly past Abbey, but she tripped and fell, crashing to the floor face-first.

Abbey lunged into action. She grabbed her off the ground, examined her, and comforted her until she forgot about the initial pain of falling and her sobs stopped. Then came the hard part. After her daughter's tears had dried, it was time for Abbey to shed a few of her own as she was forced to discipline the head-strong toddler. That was the part she hated the most and on those days when Jed was home, it was the task she gladly passed off to him.

Lizzie knew what was coming. Sensing her mother was still upset with her, she held out her arms for her father. Jed scooped her up in his arms without a second thought about those messy paint-streaked hands before Abbey could punish her.

"Hey, sweetheart," he said, wiping a residual tear from her lashes.

"Great, I'm off the hook," Abbey sighed happily.

"What does that mean?"

"It means you get to handle the kicking and screaming on the way to her room."

"Her room?"

"She's in time-out for the next 15 minutes."

"But..."

"She can't get away with finger-painting the walls, Jed."

"I know, but I can't punish her when she's hugging me like this." Jed tried to loosen the ten little fingers that coiled themselves around his collar.

"Jed..."

"No, I mean, literally, even if I wanted to, I can't. She's got a death grip on me."

Elizabeth was three years old when Abbey started medical school. The first two years were manageable, though all-night study sessions kept her away from Jed and Lizzie more than she would have liked. The third year was more grueling for the family. Clinical rotations demanded a schedule not mandated by labor laws, so Abbey frequently found herself tired and stressed by the long hours of hospital work and the taxing chore of studying for shelf exams at the end of each rotation. What's more, it was hard to make Lizzie understand why Mommy wasn't around the way she used to be.

"Mommy, now that you work in the hospital, are you like a real doctor?"

"Well, I'm just a student doctor for now, but in just a couple of years, I'm going to be a real doctor, just like Aunt Millie."

"Are you gonna give people shots?"

"Well, yeah, but only because I want to make them feel better if they're sick."

"You won't give me shots, will you? I hate shots. They hurt a lot."

"No, baby doll. I won't give you a shot."

In the fall of 1973, Elizabeth began kindergarten and Abbey longed for another baby. Jed loved the idea. More than any other title he had earned in his life, it was the title of 'father' that he treasured the most. Fate shined down on them and on Valentine's Day 1974, Abbey learned she was pregnant again.

"I don't get it," Jed said that night as he stared down at a calendar with the 24th day of September marked in red.

"I circled it so you wouldn't make plans on that day."

"Why?"

"I thought you'd want to be there when I have our baby."

It was a Valentine's gift Jed would never forget. Husband and wife celebrated the news with the same fiery passion that kept them tangled in each others arms on their wedding night. The following October, two weeks later than planned, they welcomed home their second daughter, a precious little princess they named Eleanor Emily Bartlet - Eleanor for Jed's mother who had passed away the year before, and Emily because Lizzie had been so excited about having a sister that she pleaded with her parents to give her that name if it was a girl.

"It's a girl, Lizzie!" Jed joyously broke the news over the phone to Liz and Abbey's father on a crisp autumn day. "She was born a little while ago. You got yourself a baby sister just like you wanted."

"I have a SISTER?" Lizzie squealed into the receiver. "Put her on the phone, Daddy! PLEASE? Put her on the phone!"

Ellie, as she was called for the first time when she was barely three hours old, had light hair, so light that she looked nearly bald for the first few months of her life. Brunettes themselves, Jed and Abbey assumed it would darken over time and although it did slightly, she was still their little blonde. They guessed it was a recessive gene from Abbey's side of the family that Ellie had snatched at conception.

"The good news is, if she hates us, she can tell people she was adopted," Jed joked.

"Never gonna fly. She may not have your hair color, but she's definitely got your features."

"You think so?" He examined Ellie's face.

"Yeah, look at her chin. Besides, our kids will never hate us."

"And you know this how?"

"What's there to hate? We're cool parents, don't you think?"

"No one thinks their parents are cool."

"Well, our girls will." Abbey took a baby brush to Ellie's thin wispy curls. "You think I'm cool, don't you, Goldilocks?"

"Abbey, don't call her that."

"She's got golden locks of hair. What's the problem?"

"You're naming her after a home invader who stole porridge for a living."

Ellie was the quiet one. As a toddler, she was nowhere near as rambunctious as Lizzie and even during the terrible two's, she proved to be less of a challenge. Her two biggest personality quirks - her sensitivity and her shyness. Ellie's feelings were easily bruised and she had a knack for retreating inside herself if anyone upset her. She was also reserved, apprehensive around new people, and unwilling to tackle crowds. Abbey accepted these qualities about her little girl without question and she went out of her way to protect Ellie from the things that made her uncomfortable.

"Abbey, she has to go to school."

"I know. I'm going to take her."

"Why can't she ride the bus?"

"She doesn't want to ride the bus."

"You were right about the first day of kindergarten, but she's in first grade now. We're going to have to let her get on the bus eventually. She has to get used to it."

"She will, in her own time. Until she does, this is how it's going to be. I'm her mother, Jed. I'm going to take her to school as long as she wants me to."

That unconditional loyalty formed such a strong bond between mother and daughter that Ellie developed a natural tendency to cling to Abbey; and the second something threatened to compromise their relationship, Ellie clung even tighter. Even at the tender age of five, she felt protective of Abbey when she learned her parents were expecting another child.

"All right, Goldilocks, it's time we have a talk," Abbey told her one afternoon.

"Am I in trouble?"

"No. I just want to ask you something."

"What?"

"I get the feeling you're not too happy about the new baby in Mommy's tummy. Is that true?"

Ellie bowed her head. She could have lied and avoided upsetting her mother, but lying wasn't in her nature. "Are you mad at me?"

"No, sweetheart, I'm not mad at you. I am confused though. Don't you want to be the big sister for a change?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"I like being the little sister."

Abbey pulled her daughter onto her lap. Combing her fingers through her soft blond tresses, she shared, "When Lizzie found out your dad and I wanted to have another baby, she wasn't too happy about it either."

"I thought Lizzie wanted a sister."

"She did at first and then again when I got pregnant. But there was a time in between, when Daddy and I were considering it, that she was nervous about the possibility. It's like that for a lot of older brothers and sisters."

This kind of thing was important to Abbey. If her girls were upset or troubled by something, she tried to console them by assuring them their feelings were perfectly natural and that she understood why they felt the way they did.

"Why was Lizzie nervous?"

"She was afraid that we wanted to replace her, like we didn't love her anymore or something. That's crazy, isn't it? You know how much we love Lizzie."

Ellie nodded. "Yeah."

"So, I sat her down and I explained to her that no matter how many babies I have, no one will ever take her place. The same goes for you, Ellie. There's a piece of my heart that belongs to only you."

"And a piece for Lizzie?"

"And a piece for Lizzie," Abbey confirmed. "And when the new baby comes, he or she will have a piece all their own."

"But won't my piece and Lizzie's piece get smaller?"

"No, because every time a woman gets pregnant, her heart grows even bigger, so in the end, she's got enough love for all her children. Does that make sense?

"I think so. But I still like being the little sister."

Abbey's third pregnancy was a surprise to everyone, not just Ellie. Her surgical residency required brutal shifts that drained her of energy and often kept her away from home overnight. It was up to Jed to bend his schedule as a Dartmouth professor and state legislator to play Mr. Mom to Lizzie and Ellie - packing school lunches in the morning, helping with baths and homework, and reading them stories and tucking them in at night - while Abbey relied on scattered phone calls throughout the day and the rare day off to catch up on the antics of her husband and two daughters.

It wasn't an ideal time to add another baby to the mix and as if the pregnancy itself wasn't a big enough shock, in December 1979, Abbey's water broke unexpectedly. At 28 weeks, she went into pre-term labor.

"A ruptured membrane. What does that mean exactly?" Jed asked her doctor at the hospital.

"It means she's having the baby - now."

"NO!" Abbey cried with every last bit of energy. "It's too soon! I can't deliver! Give me the drugs to stop it!"

"Abbey, I can't," Dr. Gibson told her. "Your water broke. We have to deliver the baby. You know that."

Her eyes shining in a sea of tears, Abbey pleaded with her physician. "But she won't make it. She isn't supposed to come yet. If I have her now, she's going to die!"

And when the pain of labor took her breath away, it was Jed's turn to be her voice. "Please. Please, there has to be another way. Can't you stop the labor?"

It was the longest day of their lives. Abbey fought the doctors tooth and nail, trying desperately to control the agonizing burning between her legs long enough to buy her innocent little baby some more time inside her womb.

"Abbey, you have to push," her doctor ordered her.

"I want this baby in me for as long as possible!" she shouted repeatedly, refusing the nurses and the probing examination. "She's too weak to come out now."

"We don't have any more time," Dr. Gibson insisted. "The baby is coming right now."

The reality hit her hard then. Abbey turned to her husband, squeezed his hand with all her might, and wept, "We haven't even picked out a name."

"We'll choose a name. That'll be your job. Any name you want, we'll pick. But that comes next. Lets just take it one step at a time, okay? We have to do this now." Jed took Abbey's hand and put an arm under her to raise her off her pillow. "We'll do it together."

He held on to her during labor so hard that it felt as if he was pushing right along with her. Eventually, the baby girl slipped out of her mother's body weighing a mere 2 pounds, 4 ounces. A couple of faint cries escaped her weak, under-developed lungs and before either of her parents could hold her, she was whisked out of the room and into an isolette in the hospital's neonatal intensive care unit - her home for the first two months of her life.

That was where Jed and Abbey found her. Heartbroken and devastated, they visited their youngest daughter later that day, knowing they would be unable to touch her or to hold her. She was tied to a parade of machines, this tiny body that barely resembled an actual baby. Naked, under a mangled mess of tubes and wires, she slept while a sign that read 'Baby Girl Bartlet' identified her to the world.

"Have you heard of Marcus Borg?" Jed asked Abbey outside the NICU that day.

"No, and if you're about to tell me a story about God, I'd really rather you skip it."

"Marcus Borg is a Christian scholar. He wrote this book in which he recounts a story told to him by the parents of a three-year-old girl."

"Jed..."

"Just listen, Abbey." He silenced her with an index finger pressed gently against her lips. "This little girl's mother was pregnant and the toddler couldn't wait for a brother or sister. So when the mother gave birth, the girl was ecstatic. Then the parents brought the baby boy home from the hospital and she pleaded with them to leave her alone with him."

"Why?"

"That's what the parents asked. They couldn't imagine why she insisted on being alone with the baby. But, they eventually agreed and stepped right outside the room. They leaned against the door so they could hear what was going on. At first, they didn't hear much of anything. But then they recognized the pitter-patter of little feet as the young girl walked across the room and sat beside her brother."

Abbey turned in her husband's arms with genuine interest. "What did she do?"

"She asked him for a favor."

"She asked HIM for a favor?"

"Yeah. She said to this newborn baby boy, 'tell me about God, I've almost forgotten.'" Jed paused for a moment as Abbey turned back to look through the plexiglass that separated them from their newborn. "Children come from God, Abbey. He looks after them. He takes care of them. He nurtures them. And when He's ready, He sends them to their parents."

"And what if they're not ready?" she replied in a near whisper. "What if those babies aren't ready to be sent to their parents? Then what? Does He just snatch them back like it's some sort of cruel game?"

"It's not a game. Every life is precious to Him. I truly believe that He wants all of us to live a life beyond mere existence, a life sometimes marred by problems, but decorated with the greatest gifts he could bestow upon us. And He's always there. His presence transcends the limits of time, beyond the beginnings and endings of traditional life and death. He watches over us for eternity. No matter what."

"So what? Are you suggesting that even if our baby dies, we should be grateful that..."

"No, I'm not saying that at all. I'm saying that we have to trust Him to guard the life He created. I'm saying that babies come from God, Abbey. We all come from God and although, as we mature, we may forget, He doesn't. He doesn't take life away. He celebrates the life he gives. He'd give her eternal life if He could. That's what He wants for all of us." He took a breath, then said, "Zoe aionios."

His voice suddenly broke and his body jerked as she caught a glimpse of his frustration. She wrapped her arms around him, offering him the same comfort he had been providing her this whole time. "Is that Greek?"

"What?"

"Zoe aionios. Is it Greek?"

Jed pulled out of the embrace, his emotions a little more controlled. "Yeah."

"And that's what it means? Eternal life?"

"Yes."

"Zoe aionios." It wasn't a question this time. Abbey simply repeated it to get used to the sound. "Then that's what we have to name her. Zoey. It's gotta be Zoey."

The brief serenity they felt when they named their baby did nothing to ease the weeks of anguish that were coming. It was hard for the Bartlets. They were forced to see their little girl lying in the NICU fighting for survival and they couldn't even reach out their hands to touch her, to let her know that she wasn't alone, that she mattered to them.

Abbey began to unravel from the stress within a couple of weeks. "All I want to do is hold her. I just want to rock her to sleep just once."

"I know, sweetheart. I know." Jed dropped a kiss to the top of her head.

"Do you think she knows?"

"Knows what?"

"That we're here? That she has a mother and a father who love her more than life itself? That we won't abandon her? That we're waiting to take her home?"

"I think she does. That's why she's not giving up. She's wants to come to us just as much as we want her to. You know what Lizzie told me?"

"What?"

"She said that Ellie made a pact with God that if He sent her little sister home, she'd give up her room and all her toys so Zoey could have them."

"She's really come around, hasn't she?"

"Yeah. They both love Zoey so much. With all of us pulling for her, how could she not feel that kind of love?"

Two months after that fateful day, Abbey and Jed finally brought Zoey Patricia Bartlet home from the hospital. They vowed that one day, when Zoey was old enough to understand, they'd explain to her that her first name was given to her as a symbol of the life she fought so valiantly for and that her middle name came from a sweet, kind NICU nurse who rocked her and fed her and sang to her at bedtime all those nights that the hospital restricted Jed and Abbey's visits. Patti was her name and for the first three weeks, she tended to Zoey as if she was a surrogate mother to a child whose condition was so fragile, her own parents weren't even allowed to comfort her.

The memory of Zoey's birth was still frightening for Abbey all these years later. Remembering her sweet little daughter fighting so fiercely from the brink of death never failed to bring tears to her eyes and truth be told, she was still riddled by the guilt that came from thinking if she had done more to maintain a stable pregnancy, it never would have happened, that Zoey would have been delivered at term, evading the consequences of a premature birth.

Immediately after Zoey's traumatic entrance into the world, Abbey contemplated having her tubes tied to avoid the possibility of another pregnancy, but she let that thought slip right out of her mind, trusting that she wasn't ready to make such a drastic decision. Still, she and Jed never talked about having another baby.

Now, on a snowy Monday morning in 1985, she had to wonder if that was a wise choice. Should they have discussed the issue instead of dodging it? Should she have brought up the possibility of more children with Jed, if not five years ago, then at least last week when she realized her period was late?

Whether or not she waited too long was beside the point. As she rolled the little blue stick between her fingers, the only thing on her mind was how Jed would react when she told him that she was pregnant yet again.

TBC


	14. Chapter 14

Series: Snapshots of the Past

Series: Snapshots of the Past

Story: Man of the House

Chapter 14

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Previously: Abbey took an early pregnancy test with a positive result; Jed and Abbey had trouble adjusting to the changes in their lives (chapters 11 and 12); at his staff's urging, Jed left Washington to avoid causing waves with a committee colleague he refused to support on a vote for condoms in schools (chapter 9); Jed's colleagues on the Labor Committee selected Leo as their advising counsel (chapter 7)

Summary: Abbey leans on Millie; Jed gets advice from someone unexpected; Liz turns to Abbey when she's upset and humiliated

* * *

After several minutes of pacing the floor of Millie's office, Abbey poked her head out the door to search the halls for any sign of her friend. Millie, who was walking just as fast as her high-heeled feet would take her, spotted her donning an expression she recognized right away. Abbey's brows were arched, her eyes wide open, and the tight-lipped smile that softened her features failed to distract from her jittery posture.

"Now where have I seen that look before?" It was déjà vu for Millie, remembering Abbey's restless nerves when she suspected she was pregnant with Ellie.

Abbey tipped her head and closed the door behind her. "Well?"

"You were right." Millie handed her the file that held her blood test results. "You're pregnant."

"I knew it!"

"Congratulations." She watched Abbey's eyes glaze over the paper, a twinkle of excitement clearly visible when she looked up. "I assume you're going to make an appointment with your doctor."

"Of course. As soon as I tell Jed."

"Jed's going to be thrilled."

"He is," Abbey agreed. "I was thinking I should call him, but I now think I'm going to wait until this weekend. I want to see his face when he hears this."

Millie nodded. "So what's going on? What's wrong?"

"Nothing. This is the best news in the world."

"Yeah, but...I don't know. I get the feeling there's something more. I mean, you're here. I'm a pediatrician, not an Ob-Gyn. I can only assume you came to see me because you wanted to talk about it."

She was right. Abbey needed a friend to help her sort through the conflicting emotions in her heart and Millie, her closest and dearest confidante after Jed, was the first person that came to mind.

"That obvious?"

Millie had been able to read her like a book since they were ten years old. "I'm afraid so."

"I am happy, Millie. I'm ecstatic."

"Then what is it?"

"The timing. Jed and I had kind of a rough weekend." Abbey crossed in front of Millie. "It's so hard with him in Washington. He's stressed, I'm stressed. It's a logistical nightmare trying to coordinate phone calls throughout the week. I've got my hands full with the girls as it is. Adding a baby to the mix is going to make things even harder."

"Hey..." Millie wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "It's only been a few weeks. Don't put so much pressure on yourself. It'll get easier."

Abbey turned to face her, leaning back against Millie's desk. "That's what I've been saying since he took the oath of office. And I know it's true. I'm not concerned about it always being like this. It's just that it's like this now and I can't stand it."

"How did you think it was going to play out at first? Did you really think everything was going to be hunky dory right away? Didn't you think there'd be a period of adjustment?"

"Yes, but not like this."

"Abbey, come on. When a couple as close as you and Jed suddenly uproots their entire lives and decides to navigate a marriage and a family while living 500 miles apart, there has to be a learning curve of some sort. Long distance relationships are tough enough for boyfriends and girlfriends, never mind husbands and wives."

"I didn't think it would be such a challenge. Don't laugh, but in a way, I actually thought it'd be romantic - missing each other during the week, exchanging letters and marathon phone calls the way we used to in college, then making up for it all weekend."

"Why would I laugh? I probably would have thought the same thing." Millie followed her friend's lead, leaning back against her desk right next to Abbey. "The sex must be mind-blowing after being apart all week."

"Why do you think I'm pregnant?" Abbey gushed. "I can't get enough of him."

"You never could."

"I can happily say sex isn't even a part of this discussion. That aspect of our marriage is as strong as ever. My problem is I romanticized the separation too much. I thought it was something we could handle."

"I still think you can. You just have to remind yourselves that you're not in college anymore. Things are different. Jed's not in Indiana, you're not in Boston. You're real adults with real responsibilities and commitments. And you're not just lovers now; you're parents. It's bound to make things more difficult."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

"No, this is. You made it work then, Abbey. To tell you the truth, I didn't think you could. You're the first couple I've ever known to have a successful long distance relationship during college, a time when everyone else is binge dating and testing the limits. At 20, you knew Jed was the man for you and because of that, you held on to him."

"He held on to me too."

"That's why you two came out the other end engaged and ready to start your family. As trying as it was, you got through it. I have no doubt you can do it again. You just have to evaluate where you're at and figure out how to maneuver around these obstacles at this stage in your lives."

"Believe me, I'm trying. It's going to take some time, not just for us but for the girls as well. They hate not seeing their father during the week almost as much as I hate not having him around. I can't help but wonder what it's doing to all of us."

"You mean long-term?"

"Yeah. I was in residency and fellowship from the time Elizabeth was seven years old. I just finished less than two years ago. It took its toll on our relationship."

That wasn't news to Millie. Riddled with the guilt of not being around more and the effect it had on Liz, Abbey had leaned on her shoulder more than once during her years in surgical training. Millie's perspective was valuable to her because it was something she had gone through with her own daughter, Chloe.

"Liz is 16, Abbey."

"Liz might be, but Ellie and Zoey aren't. They're still kids and they miss Jed so much, as much as Lizzie missed me when I was away."

"So what's the answer?"

"I'm starting to think I was wrong. I'm starting to doubt my decision about us not moving to Washington with him." Abbey took a beat, then continued. "But then, part of me says no, we can do this the way we planned. We just need to be a little more patient. Then I ridicule myself for that because I think I've been patient enough and the only reason I'd pack up and move is because Jed is having more trouble than I am. Not that I blame him. I just...I'm his wife. I'm supposed to help him, I WANT to help and I feel like I can't."

"And you're mad at him for that?"

"I'm not mad at him. I'm frustrated because he's frustrated. I feel like we're in a rut."

"Do you think moving to Washington will make things better?"

"I don't know. What do you think?"

"I think I'm not about to step into the middle of this kind of dilemma between a husband and a wife." Millie retrieved some files from her desk and headed over to her filing cabinet.

"I'm asking for your opinion as a friend."

"There are only two people in the world who know the dynamics of your marriage well enough to address your question, so as a friend, I'm telling you to talk to Jed."

"That's all you've got?"

"Sorry. The only other thing I can tell you is if you're procrastinating, then maybe you already have your answer."

* * *

"Next on the agenda, we need to talk about the new OSHA recommendations." Sitting at the head of the table at the labor committee meeting, Congressman Bennett shuffled his papers.

"Excuse me," Jed interrupted him, glancing down at his itinerary. "What happened to minimum wage?"

"We're not doing minimum wage."

"Today?"

"Ever. At least, not in the foreseeable future."

"What do you mean we're not doing it? I thought this meeting was about the minimum wage. Or at least, that was the plan last week."

Bennett looked him squarely in the eye and replied, "We decided we'd table minimum wage for now."

"When did we decide this?"

"On Friday, the same day we took a vote on the condoms-in-school proposal on the education agenda. You remember that vote. It was the one you missed because you were back in New Hampshire while the rest of us were trying to get things done."

Now it made sense. Jed's staff had warned him that voting against Bennett's education proposal would invite hostility and bitterness. What they neglected to realize was that ducking out on the vote would be even worse for a freshman congressman like Jed. Bennett had taken advantage of Jed's absence and pushed through and defeated every committee initiative on Jed's radar.

As difficult as it was, instead of matching Bennett's scornful tone, Jed took a more tactful approach in his response. "That's true. I needed to deal with some things in my district. But now I'm here and considering what an important issue this is, I think that revisiting that particular discussion wouldn't be totally out of line."

"We're wasting time, Congressman Bartlet. We can't wedge a minimum wage bill through this congress. We took a vote and decided that killing it in committee would be best for now."

"The minimum wage has been at 3.35 for the past four years..."

"And it'll have to do for one more year. What's the problem, Jed? The rest of us are on the same page here."

Jed scanned the faces of his colleagues. Some were fidgety, obviously uncomfortable, while others bravely looked right back at him. It was clear that whatever took place while he was in Manchester on Friday intentionally took place without him. He quietly contemplated his rebuttal and when he finally summoned the fearless confidence it took to stand up, his head snapped back behind him at the sound coming from the doorway.

"Sorry I'm late."

Leo's stare met Jed's, leaving both men speechless for the next several seconds.

* * *

As Abbey pulled into the snowy drive, she noticed Liz sitting on the porch swing in a pair of jeans, a pink and white sweater, white mittens, and a white scarf. It was freezing outside, yet her eldest daughter wasn't even wearing a jacket. Just as stubborn as her father, she thought as she parked the car and got out.

"Liz, it's 10 degrees. What are you doing out here?"

"Waiting for you. I tried to call you at work, but they said you left early."

"I went to Boston to see Aunt Millie. Why were you looking for me?"

Liz shrugged. "Just wanted to talk."

It took only a few steps for Abbey to see the teen's puffy eyes and tear-stained face. "What happened?"

"Scott and I had a big fight at school today. He doesn't understand why I can't go to the party after the dance on Saturday." Liz narrowed her eyes when she spoke, still angry about the argument. "He's pissed because it's going to be his party and he'll be the only one there without a date."

"I'm sorry about that, but I'm not changing my mind."

"I'm not expecting you to. I'm just saying we had a fight."

"Well..." Abbey stepped up onto the porch. "All couples fight. Disagreements are part of life. They happen."

"Not like this." A few tears swelled in Liz's eyes. "He dumped me."

"What?"

"Right there in the cafeteria. And then, in front of everyone, he asked Mindy to go to the dance with him."

Abbey's face crumbled with her daughter's pain. "Oh, Lizzie."

Heartbroken, Liz's tear drops fell more rapidly. "And she said yes."

"She said yes?"

She started sobbing as Abbey sat down beside her and took her into her arms. Abbey held her fiercely, as if wanting to somehow shield her from the hurt she felt in her own gut every time Liz took a labored breath. Mindy and Liz had been inseparable for years. If there was one friend Abbey thought Liz could always count on, it was Mindy.

"She was supposed to be my best friend," Liz cried, her words barely audible. "I would have NEVER done that to her."

"I know, baby." Abbey dropped a kiss to the top of her head. "I'm so sorry."

As upset as she was over losing her boyfriend, Liz was twice as upset at Mindy's betrayal. Just like her parents, friendship was important to her. She treasured her friends and the loyalty she thought was mutual between them. Having it snatched away like this crushed her spirit and left Abbey devastated at the helplessness she felt in mending her daughter's wounds.

* * *

"I'm telling you right now, if that pompous windbag thinks, for one second, that he's going to antagonize me into voting for whatever the hell he wants passed, he's in for a letdown. He wants a fight, tell him to suit up because I'm ready."

Jed's feistiness galvanized his staff. They all gathered around his congressional suite and listened to him rattle off a laundry list of issues he planned to pursue with or without the support of his committee. This is what his constituents sent him to Washington to do, he told them, and regardless of Bennett's intimidation tactics, it's what he would do.

"Now there's the Jed Bartlet I know." Leo made his presence known from behind the crowd of staffers who were blocking him. They dispersed slightly to let him through. "Congressman."

"Leo, I didn't see you there."

"I just came by to see the office, and to tell you that I doubt anyone would have criticized you if you had raised hell at that meeting."

"Bennett pulled a fast one." Jed didn't need to tell Leo that. Leo had been one of the consulting attorneys on the labor committee last session as well, and he was intimately familiar with Congressman Bennett's manipulation.

"Yeah." As if invited, Leo followed Jed into his office. "That's what he does."

"He's done this before?"

"Are you kidding? The man's a buffoon. He'd get nothing done if he didn't bully members of his own committees."

"And the others let him get away with it?"

"Where labor's concerned, yeah. He's got seniority so they back off. They've been waiting for someone like you to come along and stand up to him."

"Won't that just make me his target?"

"You afraid?"

"No." It wasn't fear of retribution. It was fear of what he didn't know that gave Jed pause.

"You've been here six weeks and already you're skeptical about the whole thing, aren't you?" Leo saw old friend's response to that - suspicious and surprised that Leo knew him well enough to make such a judgment. "Sometimes, the things not said are more obvious than the things that are."

"So you've told me."

"Your job isn't to play the game. It's to learn it. Once you do that, you can get down to business, do some real governing."

Jed was thrown by the straight talk from the man he hadn't spoken to in months. The last time he saw Leo, it ended with a disastrous attempt at an intervention that forged such a wide rift between them, Jed thought it was irreparable.

There was still some apprehension there, but as Leo offered insight into his own experiences on Capitol Hill, Jed relaxed, made himself comfortable in his leather swivel chair, and listened.

* * *

That evening, Abbey spent the night consoling Elizabeth and giving her a chance to vent about Scott and Mindy. She promised that after Zoey and Ellie were put to bed, she'd pop a bag of popcorn and share a few anecdotes of her own high school crushes to ease Liz's broken heart. And that's exactly what she was going to do right after she slipped into a pair of pajamas and answered the ringing phone.

She picked up the receiver as she smiled, anticipating the voice she'd hear on the other line. "Hello?"

"So I'm sitting at my desk and no matter how hard I try, I can't get the thought of you in that red lace teddy out of my mind."

Predictable. Abbey shook her head at her husband's greeting. "I was hoping it was you. We missed your call at dinner."

"Sorry. I was in a meeting."

"I know. Christine told me. You're still at the office?"

"Yeah."

"It's almost 10. You work too hard."

"I'm just about done."

"Good. Go home and relax a little. Did you have dinner?"

"Yes and you'll be happy to know I ordered a baked chicken and broccoli casserole from the cafe next door."

"What, were they out of burgers?"

"If that's the response I'm gonna get, maybe next time, I'll go for the burger."

"I'm proud of you for avoiding temptation. And by the way, it's crimson."

"What's crimson?"

"The teddy you think is red."

Jed laughed at that. If there was one thing he could never seem to grasp, it was the subtle differences in colors that, to him, were indistinguishable. "Whatever. You know what I'm talking about. Send me a picture."

"Of what?"

"Of you in the teddy. I need something to keep with me during the week. You know, something to..." He cut himself off when heard someone else in the room. "Abbey?"

"Sorry. Liz just came in. She had a rough day."

"What happened?"

Dressed in a long night shirt with her hair in a pony tail and a tissue still in her hand, Liz plopped down on her mother's bed as Abbey explained to Jed what happened at school.

Jed had warned her that Scott wasn't the boy she thought he was, that he didn't care about her as much as Liz cared about him. Now that she knew Scott was the jerk that Jed said he'd be, she couldn't help but wonder - momentarily - if he'd remind her of that conversation.

She banished the thought as she took the phone from Abbey. "Hello?"

"Scott made a big mistake, sweetheart. For whatever reason, he couldn't appreciate the kind, caring, intelligent, beautiful girl you are. Somewhere out there, there's a guy who's just waiting to love you for all your gifts and talents."

With a sigh of relief, Liz snuggled up under the covers and mentally kicked herself for underestimating her father. Clear mind or not, she should have had no doubt about Jed's supportive and loving response. She curled her lips together and listened as Abbey headed downstairs to get the popcorn.

TBC


	15. Chapter 15

Series: Snapshots of the Past

Series: Snapshots of the Past

Story: Man of the House

Chapter 15

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Previously: Abbey's blood test confirmed she was pregnant; Abbey turned to Millie for advice; as consulting counsel for the congressional labor committee, Leo gave Jed some tips about dealing with a particularly annoying colleague on the Hill; Liz was heartbroken after her boyfriend Scott dumped her for her friend

Summary: On Valentine's Day, Abbey gets the girls ready for school and a sleepover at their grandparents afterwards; when Jed comes home for the weekend, he and Abbey have a little fun in the kitchen

Rating: NC-17

* * *

"Zoey, kitties do not belong in backpacks!" Abbey scooped the frightened kitten out of Zoey's bag and set her on the ground.

Wide-eyed and innocent, Zoey took in her mother's exasperated expression. "Why? I wanna take Ginger with me to Grandma and Grandpa's after school."

"Ginger's going to stay home with me."

"But if I leave her here alone, she'll think I'm not coming back."

"She won't be alone. I just told you, I'll be with her. And I'll make sure she knows you're coming home tomorrow."

"Moooommmmmmmyyyyy."

"End of discussion, Zoey." Folding her daughter's pajamas and shoving them into her backpack, Abbey stomped on that little whine before it led to a tantrum. "Now go get me your toothbrush."

"It's not fair!" Zoey huffed her way out of the room, passing Ellie at the door.

"Mom, I'm ready." Ellie dropped her duffel bag at the foot of the bed and crawled up on top.

"Are you sure you didn't forget anything?"

"I'm sure."

"You have your math homework?"

"Yes."

"Your English book?"

"Yes."

"You brought your PJ's and clothes for tomorrow?"

"Yes." Ellie sighed, annoyed at being questioned.

"ELLIE FORGOT HER TOOTHBRUSH!" Zoey hollered from the bathroom.

"Oh yeah."

It was Abbey's turn to sigh now. "What am I going to do with you?"

"It's not my fault. I wanted to get it earlier, but Lizzie was in the shower forever."

"Well, she's out now so go get it before you get distracted by something shiny."

"Okay, okay." The ten-year-old climbed off the bed and walked sluggishly out of the room.

"Of all the things she could have inherited from Jed..." Abbey mumbled to herself.

"I can hear you!" Ellie shouted back in response. "Zoey, you're such a tattletale."

"I am not!"

Once her two youngest daughters started bickering in the bathroom, Abbey retrieved three boxes of Valentine's Day chocolates she had smuggled inside a grocery bag. She stuffed one box in Zoey's backpack and another one in Ellie's duffle bag. The third box was Elizabeth's, who had yet to make an appearance, so Abbey stuck her head out in the hall and called for the older girl.

"Lizzie, are you ready, sweetheart?"

"Just about." Liz carried her bag on her shoulder as she joined her mom in Zoey's room. "How long is Dad going to be home?"

"He's going to be working out of his district office for the whole week."

"Can we all do something tomorrow night?"

"Anything you want." Abbey noted Liz's lack of enthusiasm. "You know, you don't have to go to Grandma and Grandpa's if you'd rather not. You can come home after school and we'll all just hang out tonight."

"No, it's okay," the teen replied. "You guys haven't had any time alone in a while. And Grandpa's taking us all to a fancy Valentine's Day dinner at the Spaghetti Garden tonight. Then afterwards, Grandma and I are going to see Back to the Future. It's gonna be fun. It might even take my mind off what's-his-name."

"You're sure?"

"Yeah."

"LIZZIE?"

Ignoring Ellie's bellow, Liz added, "Besides, today's the last day of school before February break so I'll have all week to see Dad."

"LLLIIIZZZZZZIIIEEE?" Ellie yelled louder this time. "LIIIIZZZZZZIIIIEEEE!"

"Ellie, get in here!" Abbey snapped, her hands folded in front of her chest as she awaited Ellie's arrival.

"What?"

"You're standing right outside the door. Why in the world are you screaming?"

"She didn't answer the first time and I had a question for her."

"Well, she's right here."

"I see her now." With a sulky roll of her eye, Ellie turned to Liz. "When Scott comes over tomorrow, can you tell him to bring his parents with him? I wanna talk to them about space camp."

"Scott's not coming over tomorrow," Abbey told her as she zipped Zoey's backpack.

"Why not? I thought he was having dinner with us before the dance."

Still vulnerable from her broken heart, Liz steeled her nerves and said, "We're not going to the dance. He broke up with me, El."

"He did?"

"Yeah."

Ellie took in the news. Her reaction played out on her face before she even opened her mouth. She narrowed her eyes and furrowed her brows the way she always did when she was upset or irritated.

"I knew he was a dork!" she finally said. "He wasn't even very smart. I mean, who doesn't know how to play Monopoly?"

"That's kinda true." Liz smiled at her sister's criticism.

"You'll find another boyfriend, Lizzie, and this one will be A LOT better than that creep!"

Ellie had seen the hurt in Lizzie's eyes. To her, it didn't matter why it happened. All that mattered was that Scott had made Elizabeth cry and that alone earned him Ellie's resentment. Proud of her loyalty, Abbey placed both her hands on Ellie's shoulders and kissed the top of her head.

* * *

Abbey sashayed around the kitchen with a long apron hanging over her slinky black dress. She checked the stove, stirring the special red sauce she had made to pour over the ravioli appetizers she had cooked and left in the fridge alongside a dried cherry salad and a plate of dipped strawberries. Two tall dessert flutes were filled to the rim with chocolate mousse, sprinkled with red Valentine's candies on top.

In the oven, she drizzled juice over a roast leg of lamb to keep it from drying out, then took one last look around before she stripped out of her apron and started towards the foyer where she wrapped herself up in a royal blue scarf and her long black wool coat.

Just as she opened the door to leave, the phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Abbey?"

It was the one voice she didn't expect to hear. "Jed, you better be in the sky right now."

"I am. I'm on one of those credit card phones on the plane. Listen, there's a huge snowstorm headed towards New Hampshire."

"Yeah, I know. Have you forgotten that we actually do get weather reports up here?"

"Smartass, I'm calling to tell you that I'll take a cab from the airport."

"No way. I'm coming to get you. I was about to leave."

"Hon, I've seen how you navigate the roads in bad weather. I don't want you driving out there."

"Are you afraid of me driving myself to the airport or are you afraid of me driving you home?"

"Both," he admitted with a smile. "I'm taking a cab. I want you to stay there." He grew suspicious when he didn't hear a response. "Abbey?"

"Yeah, okay."

"Okay what?"

"Take a cab. I'll see when you get home."

"Love you."

"Love you too."

Abbey buttoned up her coat, grabbed her keys, and left.

* * *

"And this is why I didn't want you driving in a blizzard." Jed carried his bags through the front door of the farmhouse.

"It's not a blizzard," Abbey insisted as she closed the door behind them. She was carrying a dozen red roses and a huge heart-shaped box of assorted chocolates Jed had given her when he saw her at the terminal.

"Says who?"

"Says me. And even if it was, it wouldn't matter because that's not why you're giving me a hard time. It's not about the weather. You just don't like my driving."

"You're right, I don't." He took her coat and, along with his own, hung it up in the coat closet. "You tailgate."

"I don't tailgate."

"You get so close, your front bumper blocks the license plate in front of us. What do you call it?"

"Economical spacing. I'm saving road space to decrease traffic."

He stared at her for a second and when her lips twitched, he replied, "You can't even say it with a straight face."

"I'm a safe driver."

"Most of the time, you are. But now and again, when you're on a one-way road, you lose patience - like tonight."

"I was excited to see you. I couldn't wait to get you home."

"And don't you think it took every ounce of self-control I had not to shove you into the bathroom right there at the airport and have my way with you?"

She winked. "What stopped you?"

Jed started at her shoulders. His hands then slipped down her arms to her waist. "I could take you upstairs right now, throw you on the bed, and make love to you in every way, shape, and form for the next four hours straight."

"Except that you're lecturing me about tailgating," Abbey reminded him as she squeezed out of his hold.

"Which you do. You should have let me drive home."

She ignored his grumbling complaints on her way to the kitchen to search for a vase for her flowers. "You drive like a grandma, Jed. You would have gone ten miles per hour with your hazard lights on the whole time."

He set the box of chocolates on the kitchen table. "You bet your ass."

"Since when have you been worried about a little bit of snow?"

"Let's be clear, I don't mind the snow. I love the snow. Driving in the snow is a different animal altogether. There's nothing wrong with being cautious during a white-out."

His strong demeanor made her laugh. "A white-out. A minute ago, it was a blizzard."

"You're laughing at me."

"Yeah, I am. Because you're just so cute when you get all worked up."

"You realize I'm serious here?"

"About as serious as a man can be when badgering his wife about the perils of winter driving."

"Are you patronizing me?"

"No," she said as she filled the vase with water and began to arrange the roses. "I'm making fun of you."

"I'm not badgering you and I'm not lecturing you either. I just worry about you."

"You win, all right? I was tailgating." Abbey set the vase aside and reached for a spoon to stir her homemade lingonberry sauce. "Can you get the lamb out of the oven?"

"It's not about winning. It's a dangerous habit."

"And you picked now to bring it up?"

"Hey, I've mentioned it before. I've just never been as adamant about it." Jed pulled a pair of oven mits over his hands.

"Why now?"

"Because I'm not here. And it's hard enough being in DC without worrying about you all the time." He set the baking dish on the stove.

"Thanks." Abbey gently tugged at the mits and when they came off, she wrapped her arms around him. "You're right. I'll be more careful."

"Really?" He rubbed his hands up and down her back, a devilish glint now shining his eye. "Or is this one of those times that you tell me what I want to hear and then go ahead and do what you want anyway?"

A classic passive-aggressive Jed Bartlet response. She pulled away, unaware he was just playing with her now. "Like driving to the airport?"

"Yeah, like driving to the airport," he said. "You lied right to my face."

"To your ear," she corrected him as she slowly poured the lingonberry sauce over the lamb and then handed him her spoon so he could continue stirring.

"To my ear. It's an expression. You know what I mean."

"And I did not lie."

"Fine. In the words of our daughters, you fibbed."

Both eyes glued to the way she wiggled her sexy rear as she bent over in the fridge to get the pot of ravioli, Jed made a half-hearted attempt at garnishing the lamb. That dress was made for her figure. The way it hugged all her curves, from the gorgeous mounds of her breasts that peaked atop the plunging neckline to the provocative swells of her hips, it looked as if it was melded to her body.

"I didn't fib," she replied. "I was truthful with my intention. You just misunderstood."

"Now THAT'S a lie. You don't even have the decency to fib."

"Yes, I do." She stood upright and stared him in the eye, angry that she'd just been tricked. "You know, I really hate it when you do that."

His cheeks flushed with a grin. "Admit it, you lied."

"I let you think you were getting your way." She dumped the ravioli into a pan of tangy red sauce.

"But I wasn't getting my way and that, my dear, was the flaw in your great plan. You lied."

"I avoided telling the truth."

Her stubborn will amused him. "Why can't you give this to me?"

"Why are you yanking my chain?"

"Because I can't imagine a prettier chain to yank."

"It's Valentine's Day."

"Yes, it is. It's Valentine's Day and you've cooked what smells like an incredible meal for us. We've got the whole house to ourselves and there you are dressed in the sexiest little black number I've ever seen. All I want to do is jump you right now."

"And yet, you're provoking me."

"I am. You know why?"

"Why?"

"Because you're just so cute when you get all worked up." He approached her, but she stepped back, feigning the sting of being slapped with her own words.

"You like toying with me." As if she didn't already know.

"Almost as much as you like toying with me. Come here, my little spin doctor."

Abbey played hard to get for one more round. This time, Jed cornered her against the counter. His hands on either side of her, his front to her back, she relinquished herself physically and dipped her head as he nibbled on her ear, his hot breath trailing across her jaw to the back of her neck and the sweet curve of her nape that always made her weak in the knees.

"I love you so much," he whispered.

"You know, if I lied..." she started, her body leaning against his out of habit, craving his touch and the seductive tone she knew she'd hear in his voice.

"Which you did."

"If I lied..." she turned to face him then. "It was only because I couldn't stop myself from rushing to the airport to greet you. I missed you terribly the past four days."

He saw the enchanting twinkle in her. She was definitely a seductress when she wanted to be. "Now you're sweet-talking me."

She conceded that point. "It's better than mocking you, isn't it?"

"I don't know that it is."

"Really?" Abbey laid her palms on both of his cheeks and kissed him hungrily.

"Okay, you're changing my mind."

"So it's working then?"

"Your manipulation?" Their faces so close that their foreheads touched, Jed relaxed his arms at her waist as his hands slid effortlessly to her rear. "Like a charm."

Abbey raised one knee so that it rested on his hip, his hint to pick her up in a hold so tight that her feet left the ground while she bent her head to dazzle him with a dozen more kisses. He walked a few steps to the kitchen table and sat her down on top. She eased herself back, her hand cupping the back of his head, refusing to break the passionate liplock between them.

Jed reached down for her tall leather boots, the ones she wore because she knew they'd turn him on. He unzipped them in one rapid move from her thighs down to her ankles and he tugged them off her feet without a hesitation. Abbey yanked on his belt until it slipped out of the loops and she was able to finally push his pants down to his knees.

She lifted her hips to help him pull her silky black panties down her legs. He threw them aimlessly behind him and she lifted her skirt over her waist as she wrapped her legs around him, giving him unrestricted access to penetrate her most intimate passageway.

He did so quickly, at her urging. She needed him fast and hard and fortunately, that was exactly the way he wanted her too. Their bodies moved in a familiar rhythm, the friction between them generating the kind of heat that cheered them on towards a shattering climax.

From her vantage point, Abbey stared up at the flickering light above them. "Jed, what's with the lamp?"

"I don't give a damn about the lamp." His sexual appetite was raging towards the brink. "Do you?"

She had to admit, she didn't. So what if they were about to lose power? So what if she didn't know where the flashlights were? The man she loved was inside of her, kissing her, and holding her, and as he glided his hands behind her knees to raise her legs a little higher, Abbey clenched her eyes and savored the moment.

Jed looked down at her, this beautiful creature lying before him on the kitchen table, her legs still entwined around his back, beads of sweat dampening a few soft locks of auburn hair that had escaped her gorgeous halo of tresses to cling rebelliously to her forehead. Her satiny soft tunnel enveloped him so tight that he was rapidly losing control inside of her.

He was on the verge of explosion as he gave her the most powerful thrust he could muster. Abbey squirmed as much from the impact as from the feel of his shaft erotically swelling inside her. Her fingers grabbed the edge of the table to steady herself, her strong grip chipping away at two nails that finally cracked when Jed pumped just a little harder.

She squeezed him then. With muscles of steel that cased her feminine walls and threatened to milk him dry, she closed herself around him as he plunged once more, targeting that sensitive little spot deep inside her body; and when he did, he forced a moan from the depths of her lungs that hummed a melody of love, affection, and raw animal passion.

The table shook violently beneath her and the giant heart-shaped box of Valentine's chocolates rattled off the edge and crashed onto the floor just as the lights went out for good.

TBC


	16. Chapter 16

Series: Snapshots of the Past

Series: Snapshots of the Past

Story: Man of the House

Chapter 16

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Previously: With the girls away at Abbey's parents', Jed and Abbey enjoy a little Valentine's Day romance in the kitchen

Summary: Jed and Abbey talk about how they'll adjust to living apart; Abbey tells Jed she's pregnant; at their first doctor's visit, the Bartlets receive unexpected news

Author's Note: Thanks to Sharon for help with medical lingo

* * *

With two candles lighting their path, Jed and Abbey cautiously climbed the steps to clean up following their passionate interlude on the kitchen table. Afterwards, Jed stayed upstairs to search for a flashlight while Abbey returned downstairs to finish setting up for dinner in the formal dining room.

Earlier that evening, she had filled several small crystal glasses with cranberry juice to cushion the red floating candles she dropped inside. They were set out on top of a cherry wood table covered under a blanket of rose petals and fortunately, she had already set out a book of matches before the lights went out.

She took a match to light them as she swayed to the tune of Frank Sinatra's "You Make Me Feel So Young" that was playing on the battery-operated radio set up at the edge of the table when Jed walked downstairs, a single flashlight in one hand and a candle he used as a guide in the other.

"Nothing in Lizzie's room. Zoey had one small flashlight in her closet, but the batteries were dead so I had to disarm our alarm clock. Hey, you know what I found in Ellie's bed?"

"You searched their rooms?"

"It's not like I snooped. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't see anything."

"Except what you found in Ellie's bed," Abbey reminded him.

He dangled a penlight in front of her. "Look familiar?"

"Oh, that little sneak! I've been looking for this penlight for months. I thought I lost it at the hospital."

"I think Ellie's been reading after bedtime again."

It was hard to be angry at her for that. "Well, I guess there are worse things she could do."

Jed grinned as he held out his hand to his wife, leading her to her seat at the table. "If this was a musical, you'd start singing right now."

"Maybe she's been helping Zoey with her reading."

"Why would she need to sneak around to do that?"

"As a surprise?"

"Surprise for whom?"

"I don't know," Abbey confessed. "I'm grasping."

"Grasping at what and why?" His voice was strong, his look unyielding. He awaited her answer as he took the chair across from her. "Abbey?"

"I thought for a minute that Ellie was getting through to Zoey."

"What do you mean getting through to Zoey?"

"I've been trying to help Zoey read. It's not going very well. She's uninterested in the whole thing and lately, I think she thinks of it as a punishment. She complains before we do it, she's frustrated while we do it, and she usually ends up quitting."

Jed had seen a glimmer of rebellion in the preschooler when he'd ask her to sound out words during story time before bed, but he didn't know that Abbey was having such a difficult time. "If it's all right with you, I'd like to work with her this week."

"Jed, you're her father. You don't have to ask if it's all right with me."

"I didn't want to go down that path again. You're handling the daily ins and outs with the girls and...well, we didn't exactly hit it off the last time we visited this topic."

Abbey moved to the seat beside him. "I'm sorry about last weekend. I hate that we left things unresolved."

He stopped her right there. "It was my fault. I don't know what got into me, Abbey. I knew what running for congress would mean to us as a family and I voluntarily did it. To change the rules on you now and expect things to be different...it wasn't fair. I'm sorry."

"Both of us could have handled it better. You know, if I was in your position, I'd feel exactly the same way."

"You were in my position. As you reminded me last week, we dealt with this issue when you were in residency, only you coped with it much better than I did."

"Not at first. Don't you remember how hard it was when I started my intern year? I was always so tired and cranky and I hated the fact that I wasn't around for you and for the girls. Remember your birthday that year?"

Jed nodded. "You were so late we missed our reservations."

"All the way home, I prepared myself. I didn't think you'd ever forgive me, but when I walked through the front door, there you were, as understanding as ever."

"Not exactly. I was pissed at first, but when I saw how exhausted you looked, I couldn't stay mad at you. Besides, I seem to recall you made it up to me in other ways."

The memory brought a blush to Abbey's cheeks. "The point is, there were disappointments. It was rocky every once in a while and we argued sometimes, but then, you'd usually realize how wrong you were and things would be okay again."

"Now that's revisionist history if I ever heard it!" He called her on that little trick. "We did pretty well in the long run though, didn't we?"

"I think we did. And we'll do it again."

"You think it'll be like before once we get past the hump?"

"God, I hope so!" Abbey emphatically replied. "I can't take another visit like last weekend."

"Neither can I." Jed pulled gently on her hand, a gesture to bring her even closer. "I love you, Abbey."

"I love you too."

After a kiss, Abbey's hands slipped behind his neck and she held on to him for a moment. As much as she loved their sexual relationship, the intimacy that exploded between them in that simple, yet affectionate hug was what she treasured.

She cherished the smell of his cologne, the feel of his cheek against hers, of his hands holding her tightly, safely, as if nothing could ever permanently wedge itself between them. In Jed's arms, she knew that no matter what obstacles they faced, they'd face them together and in the end, they'd make it, just as they always had before.

* * *

Once they finished their dinner, Jed and Abbey retired to the den, the only room in the house warm enough for Abbey since the power outage also took away their heat. Jed retrieved four pillows and a large velvet comforter from upstairs, then lined up two sleeping bags, laying them flat to cover most of the floor right in front of the warm and cozy fire crackling in the fireplace.

He laid down on his side and invited Abbey to lie down in front of him so they could spoon as he hummed along with John Lennon's love ballad, Grow Old Along With Me. She was dressed in the crimson lace and satin teddy he had been fantasizing about earlier in the week. He had stripped down to his boxers and his bare masculine chest pressed up against her back.

"We haven't curled up on the floor like this in quite some time," he whispered in her ear. "We never do this anymore unless we're camping."

"That's because it's not comfortable."

"It's plenty comfortable."

"Not as comfortable as it used to be."

"We used to be young."

She turned to face him, but instead of rolling onto her back, she rolled onto her front, settling on her stomach with her head turned towards her husband. "Are you saying I'm old?"

"No."

"Well then what could 'we used to be young' possibly mean?"

"Er. I should have put the 'er' in there. We used to be youngER."

"Good save."

"Did I get out of it unscathed?"

"Close."

He took her teasing for what it was and waited until she rested her chin on the top of her hands, giving him access her spaghetti-strapped shoulders. He then straddled her at her upper thighs and began to rub them.

"Guess who I ran into on the Hill the other day?"

"Leo?"

Disappointed, he asked, "Of all the people on the planet, why would you guess Leo?"

"Because you told me the labor committee chose him to be advising counsel, so I just assumed..."

"Don't you know that when you do that, you take the wind right out of my sails?"

"Sorry. Next time I'll give you a good five minutes before I guess correctly." Abbey laughed at him.

"Thank you." Jed reached out in front of him for the plate of chocolate-dipped strawberries. He fed her one, then continued his massage.

"So what did Leo have to say?" She eased her straps down her arms to give him more room.

"He was pretty helpful. He knows the Capitol, that's for sure."

"What does that mean?"

"It means he knows what I have to do to get what I want, when to hold back, when to come out fighting."

"What are you fighting for?"

"Nothing. I meant in general." He wasn't about to ruin this night by wading into his political toils in congress. "It was nice talking to him."

"I'm glad you a good visit."

Jed hesitantly reached for another strawberry. "Uh oh. There's only one left."

With a twinge of sadness in her voice, she manipulated him. "I didn't get any chocolates this year."

"It's not my fault."

"You left my box of chocolates on the table before you pushed me onto it and seduced me. How is it not your fault they fell to the floor?"

"Okay, one, I didn't push you anywhere. And two, I seduced you? If your leg had gone any higher when you kissed me, I could have folded you into a pretzel." Fully aware he was being played, he still relinquished the last strawberry.

Abbey graciously accepted. "There's another plate of these in the fridge."

"You're such a little scamp."

"And..." She stretched her hands out in front of her to reach her bag and pull out a box of chocolates for him. "I forgot to give you this."

"You forgot, likely story. You were saving it for just the right time to get what you want." He bent down to kiss the back of her head. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. So back to Leo. Did you bring up...you know?"

"His drinking? No way. The last time I did that..."

"Jed..." Abbey lifted herself slightly to get him off her and when he fell to her side, she propped herself up on her elbow and looked at him. "He's still an alcoholic. You can't turn a blind eye to it."

"I don't want to talk about that tonight. Maybe tomorrow or the next day, but tonight, I really can't listen to another PSA about Leo's drinking." He took a beat, then added. "I didn't intend that to sound so harsh."

"It didn't," she assured him with a stroke of his arm. "You want to focus on us tonight?"

"I really do."

"Good." Her fingers trailed over his chest and his stomach, but her eyes never left his. "There's something I've been wanting to tell you. I've been searching for just the right moment."

"First, can I just say that I love you for wearing that red teddy tonight?"

"It's crimson, Babe. Am I going to have to get you a color chart for Christmas?"

"Get me whatever you want. As long as you continue to dress like a sexy little vixen, I really don't care." He was genuinely ignorant about the subtle characteristics of the different hues, but truth be told, he enjoyed getting them wrong because it always sparked such a reaction out of her.

"Anyway, get your mind off the teddy long enough to hear this. It's important."

"What is it?" He started to worry until he saw her features soften right before him. "Abbey, what's going on? What have you got up your sleeve?"

When her hand touched his wrist, he turned his palm up to hold hers.

"I'm pregnant, Jed."

"What?" Jed sat up. "You're...seriously?"

Abbey nodded. "I took a home pregnancy test and then I had Millie order a blood test."

"Millie? Why Millie? And when? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I just found out this week. I went to Millie because I didn't want anyone else to know until I was sure. And I didn't tell you because I wanted to do it in person."

"We've been in person all night."

"I know. I wanted us to talk first, to get rid of the tension from last weekend before I broke the news. You understand why, don't you?"

A million emotions played across Jed's face. His expression was one of shock, a bit of fear, and definitely, a lot of happiness. He was enthusiastic about the prospect of another Bartlet child, that was plain to see, and as he took a minute to gather his thoughts, the joy that filled his heart shined in his twinkling baby blues.

"We're gonna have a baby?"

She sat up beside him. "Yeah. We are."

"Wow."

"I know the timing isn't perfect."

"You can say that again." He rubbed his forehead, thinking. "How are we going to do this? I mean, it's wonderful. The thought of you being pregnant, it's the best news in the world."

"But?"

"But how are we going to do it? We're driving ourselves crazy just dealing with the three kids we have."

"I know it won't be easy. Jed, when have we ever done easy? This is one of those things we just have to figure out...one of the things I was talking about earlier."

"That whole conversation at dinner...it was because of this?"

"Not exactly. It was a conversation we needed to have regardless. But I knew I was going to tell you about the baby tonight and I wanted us to have that talk before I did." She waited several seconds for him to respond. He never did. "Okay, you're scaring me now."

"What?"

"You're excited, aren't you?"

"Of course I am. I love kids. If it was possible, I'd want ten of them."

"I'm so relieved to hear you say that. When I did the home pregnancy test, I was worried at first. I knew that deep down, you'd be happy, but I thought that you might also be a little upset in the beginning...that we let this happen...that I let this happen."

"You?"

"Remember when I ran out of birth control and didn't get a chance to renew the prescription?"

"Honey, none of that matters. For starters, I knew we were doing it without protection and I'm just as guilty of it as you are. And anyway, upset is the furthest emotion from my mind right now." He placed both his hands on her shoulders. "I want nothing more than to have another baby with you. I'm just surprised. It's unexpected, you know?"

"I know."

"Look, if I was still at Dartmouth, I would have no doubts whatsoever."

"But you're not at Dartmouth." She put her hands over his and brought them down between them.

"No, I'm not. And that's the problem. I'm trying to figure out how this is going to work. How are we going to do it with me living in Washington? Can you deal with the girls and a new baby by yourself? I'm not sure I could."

"Well, maybe we should talk again about hiring someone to help out."

"I don't think we have a choice. That's not a reflection on you, Abbey. You know that, right?"

"I know. Bringing a baby into the equation is going to change things, I'm aware of that."

"How can you be so calm about it?"

"Because I really want this baby. I didn't think I wanted more kids until I found out I was pregnant and then I started thinking about how special it's going to be. This time, I'm out of school, out of training. I can take care of this baby the way I did with Elizabeth. Think about it Jed..."

Her voice held such hope, her eyes such sparkle. He couldn't help but melt when she talked about carrying another one of his children in her womb. He loved her so much that for the next few minutes, as he listened to her map out their future, he let go of all his apprehension and embraced the idea completely.

"You already planned everything."

"It's hard not to when you find out you're pregnant."

He put his hand up to her belly, then leaned down to kiss it. "When's the first doctor's appointment?"

"Tomorrow," she said, smiling.

"On Saturday?"

"Dr. McConnell has Saturdays hours. I wanted to make sure you were going to be there with me."

"Come here." He laid down on his back, pulled her on top of him, and wrapped her up in his arms. "I'll do my best to be with you every step of the way, every doctors appointment, every Lamaze class..."

"We're going to have schedule things way in advance this time."

"Yeah. We'll do it. We'll hammer out some sort of plan, not just while you're pregnant, but for the long run. We're going to have to sit down and really talk about having another baby in the family, how we're going to adjust during these years I'm in congress."

"We can do it."

"I know we can."

Her lips collided with his for another long, romantic kiss. Her mouth then trailed down his neck as Jed pulled the straps of the crimson teddy and wiggled it down her body, over the curves of her hips and slope of her rear. Tugging on his boxers, Abbey kissed his waist, then followed the fabric with her tongue until her mouth reached his swollen appendage.

The blanket that had been draped across them was now tangled between their legs. Jed pulled on the hem and brought it up over their heads, tenting them inside for the rest of the night.

* * *

"Four."

"Five."

"Abbey, it's four. I know what I'm talking about."

"Obviously not because it's five."

"You're going to tell me I'm wrong? I'm a U.S. Congressman. I should know these things."

"Yes, you should and believe me, I'm more than a little shocked that you don't."

Abbey was lying on the table in the examination room with Jed hovering over her on Saturday morning. Dr. McConnell walked in, chuckling at their lighthearted exchange. He knew the Bartlets well. He and Abbey worked side-by-side during her Ob-Gyn rotation in her third year of medical school and when she and Jed moved from Hanover to Manchester, she hired him as her personal physician.

"So what's the topic up for debate?" McConnell asked.

"How many states have seat belt laws on the books," Jed told him.

"Jed here thinks it's perfectly fine to drive in a blizzard without a seat belt," Abbey explained. "But God forbid anyone tailgate. That happens to be the crime of the century."

Jed had an answer for that double-standard. "New Hampshire doesn't have a seat belt law. I guarantee you they have one against tailgating."

"So as long as it's legal, it's completely safe?"

"I'm just saying, there's no law in New Hampshire...or 46 other states." He cocked his brow when she didn't argue. "Aren't you going to say anything?"

"Like what?"

"Like it's 45 states according to your fraudulent sources."

"I never said it was legal in 45 states."

"You just said five states have seat belt laws. We still have 50 states in the Union, right?"

"What I said was there are five places in the United States with seat belt laws. New York, Hawaii, North Carolina, Texas..."

"That's right. That's four."

"And Puerto Rico," she grinned. "I never said the territories don't count."

Jed glared at her. "Well, you're still wrong. If we're counting territories, then Guam is another that has a seat belt law."

"No it doesn't."

"Sure it does." He persisted despite her sputter. "How do you know? When was the last time you drove on a Guamanian road?"

Abbey ignored the challenge and instead addressed the doctor, whom she could see was amused by their banter. "You'll have to forgive us, Dr. McConnell. We lost power at the farm, thanks to the storm, so Jed and I've been up half the night. One of us is starting to get..."

"Punchy," Jed finished.

"SILLY," Abbey said immediately after. "I was going to say silly."

"That's perfectly all right," the doctor replied. "We actually lost power at my house too. I wish my wife and I had half as much to talk about."

"We keep me entertained." Jed winked at his wife.

Missing that little gesture, McConnell skimmed over Abbey's chart. "So, Abbey, I thought if you wanted to, we could do a sonogram today."

"So soon?"

"Looking over your history, I think it'd be a good idea. Your last daughter was born extremely premature. Taking that into account, we might want to officially date the pregnancy, get an accurate gestational age."

"We can see the baby today?" An ecstatic Jed took Abbey's hand. "Yesterday at this time, I didn't even know you were pregnant and this morning, we get proof of it."

"So I take it that's a yes?"

Abbey pressed her lips to Jed's knuckles. "Yeah. We want to do the sonogram."

While the doctor and his nurse set up the sonogram machine, Jed helped Abbey into position. Her tummy was just as small and tight as it always had been. If not for her positive pregnancy results, he'd find it hard to believe there was a baby inside.

Once everything was ready, the nurse poured a silicone gel over Abbey's belly and powered up the monitor. Dr. McConnell worked the wand in a clockwise rotation, pushing down on her flesh and pausing several times.

"You think we'll be able to tell if it's a boy or a girl?" Jed asked Abbey, oblivious to what the doctor was seeing.

"It's too early for that. Are you hoping for a boy this time?"

"Either way, I'll be happy."

"But you want a boy."

"I'd like the chance to raise a little boy, yeah. I think Liz is going to move out if we bring another girl into this family."

Abbey laughed. "Well, if it's another girl, Lizzie's off the hook. She'll be off to college before this one learns to walk, so I think it's safe to say this baby is going to latch on to Ellie or Zoey. I kind of hope it's Zoey. For once, she'll know how Liz feels when she barges into her room, spies on her calls, or reads her diary."

"She doesn't read her diary."

"She pretends to. She sits on her bed and reads the diary out loud with made-up words and scenarios just to get under Lizzie's skin."

"You're right," Jed replied, grinning. "The best medicine for Zoey is another sister."

Abbey glanced over at the doctor. "You've been moving that thing across my stomach for a while now."

"Let the man work," Jed playfully chided.

"I am. I'm just curious about the hold-up."

His forehead creasing, Dr. McConnell stopped and started again. "I want to get the most accurate image."

Abbey peeked at the monitor. "I don't know how you can see anything on that screen. I hated having to read sonograms during rotations. I could never properly make them out."

"It's a skill that's acquired over time."

"You're talking to a doctor with three children of her own. If I haven't mastered it by now, I don't think I'm going to." She flinched as he pressed down harder on her belly. "Ow!"

"That hurt?" McConnell eased up a little. "I'm sorry."

"Seriously, is something wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong," Jed assured her, holding her hand tighter now in case she felt anymore pain. "You're distracting him."

"I'm not distracting him. I just don't remember it taking this long to get a good picture with the girls."

"It's a lot earlier in the pregnancy."

"You're right. I think I'm probably at about 8 weeks now. What do you think?" McConnell didn't reply this time. Abbey squirmed when she saw his concerned expression. "Ken? No kidding, what's wrong?"

"I'm trying to get a clear image."

"Fine, but something's wrong. It's written all over your face. Be straight with me."

"Just hold on a second."

"Is it the baby?"

"I don't know yet."

That answer worried Jed. "What do you mean you don't know? What's going on?"

"Ken?" Abbey prodded, calling him by his first name.

McConnell inched himself closer to the monitor while moving the wand in a complete rotation over Abbey once again. "I don't see anything."

"What does that mean?" Jed looked to his wife for elaboration. "He doesn't see anything where?"

"Ken, is the sac empty?"

"I'd like to schedule another sonogram for tomorrow."

"You don't work on Sundays."

"I can come in for this."

"It's empty, isn't it?"

"What?" Jed demanded. "Will someone please tell me what the hell is going on? He didn't see anything where?"

"In my uterus," an alarmed Abbey answered. "He doesn't see the baby."

The doctor shook his head. "I'm sorry, Abbey. I don't think you're pregnant."

TBC


	17. Chapter 17

Series: Snapshots of the Past

Series: Snapshots of the Past

Story: Man of the House

Chapter 17

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Previously: Jed and Abbey talked about making plans for another baby after she told him she was pregnant; during an ultrasound, Dr. McConnell broke the news that he didn't think she was pregnant

Summary: Dr. McConnell explains to Jed that Abbey may have suffered an early miscarriage; Jed and Abbey discuss their future

* * *

The exam room fell to a dead silence as Dr. McConnell ran the ultrasound wand over Abbey's stomach in circular motions that excruciatingly delayed the inevitable. Left and right. Right and left. Up and down. Down and up. Jed and Abbey held their breaths waiting for McConnell to say something - anything - else to let them in on the fate of their baby.

But he didn't.

"Okay." He pushed the machine aside, then turned to his patient, ready to answer questions.

Abbey propped herself up on both elbows. "Well?"

McConnell shook his head.

"How can that be?" Jed asked. "She took a pregnancy test, not just at home, but at a doctor's office. She was told she's pregnant. How can you tell us she's not?"

"I believe that Abbey was pregnant."

Abbey fell flat on her back with a sigh. "Oh God."

"There's a condition called a blighted ovum. It means..."

"I know what it means."

"Well, I don't." Confused, Jed prodded further. "What is it?"

"It's the most common type of first trimester miscarriage. It happens when a fertilized egg implants itself in the uterus, but the embryo stops growing and the body, unaware that there's a complication, still thinks it's pregnant. The placenta continues to grow and starts to release hormones. That's why she got the positive test result and why she's probably feeling the symptoms of a pregnancy."

"You're saying she lost a baby and didn't even know it?"

"Most women don't know. Ordinarily, the embryo is absorbed by the uterus, leaving an empty gestational sac which is usually discovered during the first ultrasound. Before that, there's no way to tell what's happening inside the womb."

Abbey closed her eyes and mumbled softly, "It could be too soon. Maybe you just can't see the baby."

"That's why I'd like to try another ultrasound tomorrow."

"And if you don't see anything tomorrow?" Jed nudged.

"Then, you and Abbey will have to decide what to do next."

"Next?"

"The body needs to expel the gestational sac and tissue to complete the miscarriage. She could wait for that to happen naturally. Spontaneously. Unfortunately, it's likely to take several weeks and in the meantime, she will probably experience some cramping, some pain, not to mention the emotional burden of waiting for it to happen."

Jed couldn't imagine putting Abbey through something like that. As if the anguish of miscarriage wasn't bad enough, waiting for her body to realize the baby inside no longer exists would be torture - for both of them.

"What's the other option?" he asked.

"Surgery. Specifically, a D and C. Dilation and curettage. We'd go in and remove the tissue. It's a better choice if we want to reduce the chance of infection. Like all surgeries, though, it has its own risks."

"Is that what you'd recommend?"

"It has to be up to you and Abbey."

"From a medical standpoint."

"From a medical standpoint, yes, surgery, I think, is the better way to go. But it has to be what Abbey wants."

Both men looked over to Abbey. Lying back on the table and staring at the ceiling above, she was in her own world, detached from what was happening in the room. It was obvious she needed time to digest the news before she could even think about making any other decisions.

* * *

Snow continued to fall on that blistering February day. The roads in and around Manchester were glazed with ice and Interstate 93 was virtually deserted, with the exception of a news crew that had set up to cover the storm. Jed was listening to their report on a battery-operated radio at the farmhouse after he called his in-laws to check on the girls.

Satisfied with the weather update, he shut off the radio and headed downstairs towards the clacking sounds coming from the kitchen. That's where he found Abbey huddled behind the refrigerator door, peeking out every once in a while to dispose of the food that had spoiled overnight. The counter was topped with leftovers from their Valentine's dinner, luncheon meats, fruits, vegetables, and milk. Alongside that was a carton of ice cream and a cutting board where she had laid the once-frozen chicken and fish.

"A fridge and freezer full of groceries all going to waste," she told him when he approached.

"I'll go shopping later."

"Everything's closed."

"Tomorrow then. Or the next day."

"We should have taken some of it out last night and set it out in the snow." She stood up and slammed the door shut. "Do you have any idea how much money I'm about to throw away?"

"It happens. It's not like we can't buy more." He followed her to the sink. "I called your parents. They're going to keep the girls for another night."

"Your idea or theirs?"

"Both. We need tonight to ourselves."

"Last night was our night. The girls were looking forward to seeing you."

"The roads are too dangerous. Driving to and from Boston would be foolish right now. Besides, once they found out we didn't have power here at the farm, they were happy to stay where they are."

He threw away a few items she had already set out. As he took a bottle of juice and stored it away in the cupboard, she began to wipe off the counter with a damp paper towel. He watched her for a minute, hovering right behind her and wanting so badly to say the right thing to take away her grief.

Silent tears trailed down her cheeks, but he knew. Even without words, he could sense his wife's turmoil in the way her muscles tensed when she touched her shoulders, then relaxed against him. He felt every twitch, heard every breath, and he just stood there, as quiet as she was until she made the first move.

"I really wanted this baby."

"I know," he said, his lips lost in a thick mane of dark auburn locks. "Maybe you were right. Maybe Dr. McConnell just couldn't see it."

She turned herself around, her head tilted slightly. The shred of hope that kept her standing was close to slipping right out of her clutches. Jed took his thumb to the tears on her face, but just as quickly as he swiped them away, new drops replaced them. He gave her a tender kiss, then folded her up in his arms.

* * *

"We've got peanut butter, bread, and three cans of Spaghettios."

Jed strode through the entryway to the den where Abbey had curled up on the couch in a pair of gray sweatpants and an old Harvard sweatshirt. A throw blanket covered her legs and her head was resting on the armrest as she absently pet Ginger's head. She looked back at him when he came in holding snacks.

"I'm not hungry."

"You haven't eaten all day." He sat down on the floor beside the couch.

"I can't."

He nodded, knowingly, and pushed the food aside. "Maybe later then."

"What about you?"

He wasn't hungry either. "I'm fine."

"Just because I don't want to eat doesn't mean you can't."

"Abbey, really. I'm okay." He saw Ginger clearly enjoying his wife's attention. "That cat's better off than we are tonight."

"I promised Zoey I'd take care of her." Abbey set Ginger on the ground, then ran her hand over Jed's shoulder, urging him to turn his back to her and lean against the cushion so she could rub it. "Did you mean what you said last night?"

"What did I say?"

"That you'd want ten kids if it was possible?"

"Yeah. I did."

"Well, then, why don't we?" she asked, finally a spark of emotion not marred by sadness.

"Why don't we what?"

"If we find out tomorrow...if...you know." She couldn't bring herself to say it. "Why don't we try again?"

Jed turned to face her. "You want to actively try to have another baby? Now?"

"Why not? We talked about it, we stayed up all night making plans."

"Because we thought you got pregnant by accident. Abbey, an accident, we can deal with, but consciously making the decision to have another baby...it's crazy."

"Why?"

"I don't think it's a good idea."

"Again, why?"

"Forgive me, sweetheart, but you're not exactly 21 anymore. You're in your late 30s, almost 40 years old, with one premature birth and now, with this..." He regretted his brutal honesty when she turned from him and blinked. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. You're right, I almost lost Zoey and I may have lost this one."

"Zoey wasn't your fault and neither is what's happening now." By taking her hands the way he did, Jed forced her to look at him. "My concern is about whether or not your body can handle carrying more children, not about you."

"It had to have occurred to you. Didn't you think, for a second, that maybe I could have prevented it?"

"No. Before I went upstairs, I went into the study and picked up a few books...your old med school books. I read that a blighted ovum is responsible for something like 50 of early miscarriages, that it's usually due to some abnormality - chromosomal problems, or something."

"You're quoting science to me?"

"I'm saying that if we find out that's what's going on, then this was never a viable pregnancy to begin with, Abbey. It's nothing you did or didn't do. This baby just wasn't meant to be."

"I don't believe that."

"Then what do you believe?"

"When I found out I was pregnant, I was happier than I had been in a very long time. I think that was our sign, not this."

"The fact that you haven't been happy in a while should tell us something."

"That's not what I said. I just meant that being pregnant changes things and for me, it changed my entire outlook. You know, Lizzie once told me that she believed if I had a choice between being a mom and being a surgeon, I wouldn't have chosen to have kids."

"What?" That nugget of information angered Jed. "Why would she say something like that?"

"I don't know, she was mad at me. It doesn't matter. She said it and I told her that she was wrong, that it was never an either-or thing. In some ways, though, I feel like maybe it was."

"What are you talking about?"

"I missed out on stuff that I can't get back and I'd be lying if I said I didn't regret it."

"Everyone has regrets. No parent is perfect, Abbey. No parent can be there 100 of the time. I thought Liz was past this."

"She is. Don't be mad at her."

"I'm going to have a talk with her."

"This was last year, Jed, during the election. She apologized for it and her attitude really has changed since you've been gone. She and I have been getting along better than we have in years."

"Then why are you bringing it up now? You want to have a baby to make up for the regrets, for how you think you've failed as a mother?"

"Not quite."

"Then help me out here because I'm confused."

"Jed, I fantasized having another baby in my womb this week, about holding another newborn in my arms, about getting up in the middle of the night and pacing the floor with a crying infant and comforting him and tucking him in once he knew he was safe and sound. It's not about my regrets with the girls. It's not because I want to make up for the past. It's because I want to experience motherhood all over again at this stage in my life when I can give it everything I have."

"You will always be a mother and if you forget that, then look at our five-year-old. She needs you, probably even more than her sisters do."

"I know she does. I love that little girl with everything inside me. But it's not about her. It's not that she and Ellie and Lizzie aren't enough. After Zoey was born, I thought I was done - that we were done - and I never entertained the notion of another child."

"Neither did I."

"But did you ever ask yourself why? I've been asking myself that question all week. Why did we decide not to have more children? Was it because she was born prematurely? Was it that we knew she might have developmental problems down the road? Was it that we felt three was enough? It wasn't something we ever talked about."

"It's not something we decided..."

"Then why? Why don't you want another child?"

"I'm worried, okay? I'm worried about you. You told me years ago that the chances of complications get higher as a woman gets older. I couldn't stand to take a chance with you."

"Complications like miscarriage. It's not as if I'm going to die during childbirth."

"You say it like a miscarriage is something that won't devastate us. We both know that's not true. I saw your face at the doctor's office this morning. And I see it here now. You're grieving. The truth is, so am I. I don't want to go through this ever again. I don't want to take the risk."

"What if the risk is worth it? If we do this now, we can still have one more baby. Don't you get it?"

"I DO get it!" he growled with desperation, pleading for her to understand his logic. "You're not listening to me."

"I am."

"Then you're not hearing everything I'm saying. Getting pregnant again isn't something I think we should do, and not just because of the reasons I've already mentioned."

"There's more?"

"Putting everything else aside, you don't think it's a little bit selfish?"

"Selfish how?" She was trying to see it from his side, but she just wasn't getting it.

"Look at us. We don't even live in the same state. We talk on the phone, we see each other every weekend. This child won't have a father most of the time."

"By the time I get pregnant and actually give birth, you'll be nearly finished with your term."

"With my first term." That slipped out. Jed knew it was something she wasn't expecting to hear and if he had taken a moment to compose his thoughts, he would have stopped himself.

"Your first term? Are you running again? Have you already decided?" Abbey sat up, obviously distressed. "Jed, you never talked to me about this."

"Hang on. I haven't decided anything. I wouldn't have done something like that without talking to you first, but you had to know that sooner or later, we were going to have this conversation."

"Last weekend, you were miserable. You hated everything about congress! You came home livid because your staff forced you to run out on a vote! Why would I have thought this was a conversation we were going to have?"

"I'm not saying that I love what I'm doing right now. I'm not saying that I'm ready to give it up either. I'm not saying much of anything, which is exactly why I think it's the wrong time to make any decisions about our future."

"Jed..."

"Abbey, things aren't exactly perfect for either one of us. I know how hard it's been on you. And you're right, I am having some trouble in Washington. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about resigning and coming home to you and the girls."

"You can't resign."

"I know that. That's my point. Logically, I know, but there are so many times lately that I'm not thinking with my brain, I'm thinking with my heart. And so are you. Having a baby sounds great to me too, but don't you think that has something to do with what we're going through right now?"

He was right, she grudgingly admitted as she ran her hand through his soft brown hair. Tousled and sloppy because he never combed the windblown tangles when they returned home, his bangs hung down over his forehead until she swept them aside, opening his entire face to her touch.

"Remember our wedding night?"

Jed narrowed his stare. "Is this a trick question?"

"It was the night I told you I was pregnant. Remember?"

So that's where she was going. Once it was clear, he nodded. "I do."

"You were so worried. Afraid really...of what kind of father you'd be, if the child was going to like you or if you were going to have the kind of strained relationship you had with your own father. I don't think I had ever seen you as unsure as you were that night."

"I don't know that I ever had been."

He climbed up on the couch with her, letting her continue her stroll down memory lane without interruption. He listened and every now and again, he deliberately squeezed her hand to let her know she had his undivided attention.

"When Lizzie was born, you were scared to hold her. When I handed her to you, you said were afraid she'd slip right out of your arms and when you gave her back to me, you seemed perfectly content with just admiring her from afar. Then, after we left the hospital a couple of days later, she woke up in the middle of the night. I made you put her back down, remember? That was the first time you were ever alone with her and I felt guilty that I pushed you into it, so I came out to let you off the hook and I saw you holding her, singing to her. And she was looking up at you like you were her whole world. It was the sweetest thing I'd ever seen. I knew then that you were going to be an amazing father. And I was right."

Her loving words sent a warm flush across his cheeks.

"It wasn't just me. Anyone who's ever believed in destiny, in fate, would have to say as soon as they met you that you were born to be a mother, Abbey. Growing up the way I did, I didn't know the boundless capacity of a parent's love until I saw you caring for our daughters. I took your lead. If I'm a good father, it's only because you taught me how to be."

She smiled a soft, tiny smile, the only one she could manage under the circumstances.

"Don't you think we have enough love in our hearts to give to another baby?" As Jed started to stir, Abbey strengthened her tone and spoke a little louder. "This time, it'll be even easier because we've done it before and because we're both established in our careers..."

"What careers? You just flipped out about the possibility of a second term in congress."

"I didn't flip out. I was surprised."

"You were surprised because there's so much going on in our lives right now that we don't even know what our next move is going to be. Adding a baby to all this is going to make things even more complicated. And don't forget, we already have three children who aren't adjusting to the current situation any better than we are. How do we tell them that you and I, in our infinite wisdom, have decided we want another one?"

"You act like another child would be a cruel burden!"

"Come on, you know that's not what I mean."

"What are you going to do if it turns out I'm still pregnant after all? What if it turns out I didn't miscarry? If you're so annoyed by the idea of another kid, how are you going to feel then?"

"Don't put words in my mouth. I didn't say I was annoyed by the idea of another kid."

"It sure sounded like it."

Jed didn't offer her anything then, not a response, not even a glance. His elbow propped on the opposite armrest, he rubbed his forehead with his fingers as he angled himself away from her, unable to continue on a path towards what felt like an unavoidable argument. It wasn't going to happen now, not like this.

Several minutes of silence passed between them before he finally opened his mouth. "Do you think I'm looking at what happened today as a blessing?"

"I know you better than that." Remorseful, Abbey reached out for him, her palm caressing his lower arm. "I'm not myself tonight. I'm not articulating my thoughts very well."

Jed followed her broken voice, turning his head in time to see the torment playing across her features, the pain that cast shadows over her eyes, dulling the sparkle that had been there 24 hours earlier. She was hurting in a way that made him feel helpless.

"Ever since we left the doctor's office, I've been praying that you're okay, that the baby's okay, that everything will work out. And I've also been praying for the strength to know what to do next. I feel like we're in over our heads."

"With the pregnancy?"

"With everything. You just said that you're not yourself tonight, yet you want us to make a decision that's going to impact the rest of our lives. I don't think tonight's the night for this. We don't have all the facts, we don't know if you're pregnant, we don't know anything."

"You're right."

Her surrender surprised him. "Really?"

"Yeah. I'll drop it."

"Just like that?"

"I don't want to argue. I need you tonight. I really need you."

He wrapped his arm around her as Abbey leaned in towards him to lay her head on his chest. Her fingers sprawled out along the fabric of his navy blue sweatshirt.

"Abbey?"

"Hmm?"

"Having children with you is the best thing I've ever done. Whatever happens, it's important to me that you know that."

She lifted her head. Green eyes met blue and she stroked his cheek, assuring him that she did know before she curled up beside him once again. Sitting side by side on the sofa, the only sound heard in that room for the next few hours was that of the howling wind spraying snow and ice against the window outside while a roaring fire continued to crackle in front of them.

TBC


	18. Chapter 18

Series: Snapshots of the Past

Series: Snapshots of the Past

Story: Man of the House

Chapter 18

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Previously: Jed and Abbey learn that she might have suffered a first-term miscarriage; The Bartlets discuss the possibility of more children in their future

Summary: Jed and Abbey learn the fate of their baby; Jed tries to cheer up the girls

Author's Note: Thanks to Sharon for her medical advice!

* * *

After two straight nights of record-breaking snowfall, Sunday morning brought a different weather story to New Hampshire. The sun broke the horizon just before 7 a.m. and filtered through the curtains that covered the picturebox windows in the den of the Bartlet farmhouse, waking Jed to a beautiful New England sunrise.

He grabbed a jacket, a thin one that Abbey would have never approved of to protect him from the winter chill, and stepped out onto the front porch for a breath of fresh air. He gazed out at the snowy pasture and the rolling hills in the distance, and reached inside his pocket for the pack of cigarettes he always kept there and the lighter he kept with them.

It was going to be one of those days when nothing, not even a morning smoke, could ease his stress. He knew that. He accepted it. But, for the moment anyway, it was his last resort, the only coping mechanism that kept him sane and functioning. That's what he had to be today. That's what Abbey needed.

* * *

At a quarter past eight and four cigarettes later, Jed carried a breakfast tray into the den where Abbey was sleeping on the couch. She hadn't gotten much rest the night before, tossing and turning, her mind consumed by thoughts of the baby she thought was growing inside her. He was reluctant to wake her until he absolutely had to.

"Abbey," he whispered as he set the tray on the end table. "It's time to get up, love."

Abbey stirred slightly, wiping at her eyes with the back of her hands. "What time is it?"

"8:15." Jed helped her sit up. "The good news is, the power's back on. The bad news is the only thing we have is still peanut butter, bread, and spaghettios. I did manage to find an unopened jar of grape jelly in the pantry."

"Remind me to shop more practically next time. We used to have cabinets full of canned and boxed foods."

"We have enough for now."

She surveyed the tray he set in her lap - a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a glass of apple juice, and a single red rose he had snatched from her Valentine's bouquet. Maybe it was because she was so sensitive on this morning, but of all the times he had served her breakfast in bed over the years, this was the time that meant the most.

She took the sandwich and split it in two. "I'd bet this house you haven't eaten yet."

"No, I haven't," he admitted as he took the half she handed him. "I haven't been hungry."

"Me either."

"Well, then, PB&J it is, for both of us. After church, we'll have a real meal."

"I'm not going to church this morning."

"Abbey..."

"Don't read more into it than it deserves, Jed. In a few hours, we're going to find out about the baby. I'm in no mood to do anything else today."

"I think the baby is another reason we should go to church."

"I'd rather not."

Still raw and terribly emotional, her voice caught in her throat, an indication to him that he shouldn't press her on the issue. "Okay. If you don't want to go, we won't go."

"You should go. You don't have to babysit me."

"I'm not leaving you."

"Jed..."

"Forget it. Badger me all you want, I'm not going anywhere."

"You can't stay with me every minute."

"Wanna bet?"

"Honey, I love you for wanting to, but I have to take a shower and I'd prefer to do it alone. I need a few minutes to myself."

"Okay. I'll back off," he reluctantly agreed.

"I don't want you to back off. I just want time to digest all this on my own."

"You got it."

"When I'm done, I'd love it if you'd dry my hair for me. My shoulders kind of hurt."

"You're going now? You haven't taken more than a bite of your sandwich."

"I can't. I feel sick."

"Sick how? Is that something we should be worried about?"

"It's normal," she replied. "Probably morning sickness. My body still thinks I'm pregnant, remember? My hormone levels are raging."

She rose and so did he. The possible miscarriage was bad enough, but to feel the symptoms of a pregnancy without the joy of the baby was so cruel it rendered Jed speechless. Frozen silent, he watched her cross in front of him on her way out of the den.

* * *

Abbey dropped her clothes before stepping into the steamy bathtub. She twisted the knob and stood under the shower head, running her hand through damp locks of hair as the water rained down on her face and sprayed the rest of her body. It felt so good, the wet pellets that bounced off her skin, allowing her to stretch her neck of the tension that had taken hold of her muscles since Saturday morning.

As she poured shampoo into the palm of her hand, she gazed down at the stream of water below her feet. Alarmed, she quickly turned off the shower, jumped out of the tub, grabbed a towel, and frantically ran out into the hall to scream for Jed.

"JED? JED?"

Responding to her call, Jed sprinted upstairs in mere seconds. "What? What is it?"

"I'm bleeding."

* * *

"That's it. We need to check you into the hospital and do a D&C...today." Dr. McConnell pulled his latex gloves off his hands and threw them away, then turned to the exam table where Abbey was lying with Jed standing beside her.

"No," Jed replied sternly. "We haven't discussed the options yet. We haven't decided that surgery is what we want."

"Well, you better start discussing it."

"You said the body could pass the tissue on its own."

"Yes, but that's not what's happening here. She's not passing the placenta. She's bleeding. Unfortunately, that means the risk of infection has just increased. We should get her into the O.R."

"Not until we do another ultrasound," Abbey interrupted.

"Abbey, you know what's going on."

"I want another ultrasound. I'm not signing anything, I'm not agreeing to anything until we do another ultrasound."

Jed held her hand as she stretched out flat on the table, unable to watch the monitor. McConnell was right. She understood the physiology. She knew the fate of her pregnancy and though she demanded one more picture to be sure the gestational sac was empty, she couldn't bring herself to see the undeniable proof that a life had ended right inside her womb.

Jed couldn't bear it either. He never could pick out a decent image during ultrasounds and this time, he didn't even try. It was hard enough hearing McConnell confirm their anguish, he didn't have to witness it to feel the pain. He could already see it in Abbey's eyes, could feel it in her grip as she clutched his hands so tight that the force pulled him towards her, just inches from her face.

Husband and wife stared at one another for the next few moments, reliving flashes of the last two days as they waited for McConnell to finish the exam. Even before he uttered a word, they knew what started as a romantic weekend was about to end in heartache.

"I'm sorry," McConnell said softly, a ring of sympathy to his voice.

* * *

Within a couple of hours, Abbey was in the pre-op holding area about to be prepped for surgery. She sat up in her bed and straightened her gown over her legs before reclining back and tugging on the thin sheet and blanket her nurse had left for her. Jed fluffed her pillow behind her head and helped her get settled.

"So, tell me straight. This surgery...how dangerous is it?"

"It's routine, Jed."

"Maybe for you doctors, but this is the first time I've dealt with it so I need the truth."

Abbey pulled on his hand, a gesture to lure him to sit on her bed. "It'll last less than an hour, a few hours of recovery after that. The chance for complications is extremely rare."

"What about pain? Will you be in a lot of pain once the anesthesia wears off?"

"A little."

"Did he give you a prescription? You want me to have it filled?"

"That would be great. It's an antibiotic."

"Nothing for pain?"

"I'm going to wait on that. If the pain is too bad, I'll have it filled."

"Dr. Bartlet?" a nurse called as she poked her head inside.

"Yes?" Jed and Abbey answered together.

Smiling with his back to her, Jed twisted his head and addressed his wife. "We have to stop doing that."

"Dr. Abigail Bartlet," the nurse clarified. "I'm going to start your IV."

Abbey extended her arm so the nurse could inspect her veins.

"I have tiny veins," she said. "They usually have trouble finding a good place to stick the needle. If you need the other arm, just let me know. Or you could let me do it myself."

"Stick yourself? I don't think that'd be a good idea."

"I'm pretty good. I bet I could do it with less trouble."

It wasn't so outlandish for Abbey to offer, Jed thought to himself as he nudged her with a good-natured prod. It wasn't ego or pride. Simply put, his wife, the world-class surgeon as he often referred to her, was insanely uncomfortable with the idea of a needle pricking her own skin. She had been all her life; and the only person to whom she confessed that little secret was Jed.

"Don't listen to her," he warned the unsuspecting nurse. "She's notorious for being a problem patient."

"Aren't all doctors?" the nurse teased as she started to insert the needle, forcing Abbey to clench her eyes shut and squeeze Jed's fingers together. "There we go. That wasn't so bad, was it?"

"Speak for yourself. On this end, it wasn't exactly pleasant."

"It never is. It's just about time to take you to the O.R."

"That's my cue." Jed brushed the hair off Abbey's face and pressed his lips to hers. "I love you."

Abbey held him tight. He could feel the stampede of emotions bubbling inside her, causing her chest to heave and the faint echo of a vulnerable cry to vibrate against his ear. Jed slipped out of the embrace, but he didn't slip away form her. Their heads angled, foreheads colliding, he reached up to stroke her face along the hollow of her cheeks, the ridge of her nose, and the cute chin he had admired since the day they met. It was a comforting touch that only he could offer.

"I love you too." And with that, she let him go, then followed him with her eyes as he left the room.

* * *

Jed wandered the long, narrow hospital corridor for the next half an hour. He hated hospitals. He had spent many hours inside of one, before and after the birth of his daughters or dressed as Santa visiting to spread Christmas cheer in the pediatric wing. He used to swing by to pick up an exhausted Abbey when he didn't want her to drive herself home after a long shit. Sometimes, he'd show up for a surprise lunch date with her and wait while she finished up in surgery.

Those were the happier memories, but they weren't the ones on his mind now. No matter how many times Jed paced the hall trying to recall blissful anecdotes while Abbey was prepped for her procedure, the memories that seemed etched in his soul were those of his fragile newborn daughter fighting for her life in the NICU.

Those two months had contaminated his perception of hospitals. The smell of the wards, the sound of the intercoms, of the doctors and nurses consulting on patient care, and the incessant beeping of the machines everywhere he turned, it all reminded him of the agony of Zoey's hospital stay.

He walked the hall once more and this time, he passed his mark and continued until he reached the only place he knew would offer him some comfort - the chapel.

It was a small, dark room that housed the hospital's nondenominational chapel. Light trickled in through two stained-glass windows on either side of a wall carved in oak wood just behind the lectern. Votice candles crowded the right of the altar, immediately commanding Jed's attention. He had been here before. Not in this hospital, not in this altar, but here, in front of a blazing row of candles, repeating one desperate prayer after another.

During Zoey's time in the NICU, the nights were the hardest on him and so every night, before he went home, he went to the chapel. He even dragged Abbey there, but she was so emotionally distraught that she couldn't bring herself to pray to a God she felt had let her down.

"I can't," she had said as she stood up while he remained kneeling beside her one night. "I have to go to Zoey."

"The nurse is with her. Stay with me while I light a candle."

"I can't."

"Abbey."

"Jed, I can't. There's no use. No one's listening, no one's looking out for us. I don't want to be here; I want to be with our little girl."

Five years later, Jed still couldn't forget the words she spoke on that frigid December evening back in 1979. She closed herself off from everyone back then, even him. He wondered if that's where they were headed now, if Abbey would shut him out once again.

As he walked down the aisle, he boldly confronted other flashbacks from that painful time in his family's history. He remembered the weight that Abbey had lost, the exhaustion that streaked her face with dark circles under her eyes and skin paler than he'd ever seen. He remembered her refusal to leave the hospital for longer than a shower and change of clothes at home the first few weeks. He remembered her stubborn resolve and the tension it created between them.

Armed with the determination he lacked back then, he shook his head at the thought of revisiting those old wounds. None of that was going to happen this time. This time, they were going to lean on each other.

He reached the burning candles and then, as a few tears tracked his cheeks, he lit two of them - one for Abbey and one for the baby, the innocent life that was lost before it ever began. These were the first tears he had shed since the start of this nightmare and yet, he still couldn't let himself go.

He caught his breath and wiped his face in the glow of a dozen flames. It wasn't the time to break down. There was still more he had left to do.

* * *

"DADDY! DADDY!" Zoey raced down the hall into the waiting arms of her father, her grandparents and sisters following closely behind. "Where's Mommy?"

"Your mom's in that room right over there," Jed assured her as he pointed towards the recovery room.

"I wanna see Mommy!"

"She's asleep right now, but as soon as she wakes up, you can see her."

"Jed, how is she?" James asked his son-in-law.

"The procedure went as well as expected. You can check on her if you want." He looked over at Mary and added, "Both of you."

While the Barringtons were quick to follow his suggestion, Jed took his three daughters to a waiting room just a few feet away. He sat Zoey down, inviting Ellie to sit next to her. Liz, nervous and anxious, remained standing. Noting her agitation, Jed put an arm around her in an attempt to calm her as he kissed the top of her head.

"It's okay," he whispered.

"Daddy, when Mommy comes home, can we build a snowman?"

Thankfully, Jed thought, Zoey had no idea what was going on. "You and I can. Mommy might need to rest for a while."

"But she's sleeping now."

"Yes, she is."

"Then she'll be up later."

"She's sick, Zoey. You know how when you get sick, we tell you to stay in bed and rest so you can get better faster? That's how it is with Mommy."

"How long will she be sick?"

"That's hard to say, but as soon as she feels like her old self, we'll set aside an entire day for some sledding. How does that sound?"

Ellie looked up at her father, eyes puffy. "How come we don't get to see her?"

"You're too young, sweetheart. When she wakes up, we can take her home."

"When is that gonna be?"

"I don't know."

"What if she wakes up and nobody's there?"

"The nurse is under strict orders to come get me right away." Jed kneeled down in front of Ellie's chair. "She's not in any danger, Ellie. I promise."

He playfully yanked on her arms, anything to draw a smile. It didn't faze Ellie though. He acknowledged the only thing that had the potential to crack that rock solid armor was Abbey waking up and talking to her herself, and since that wasn't going to happen for quite a while, he changed tactics.

"Hey, you know what I found out?" As soon as Ellie shrugged, he continued. "I found out that in the nursery, there's a brand new baby girl named Eleanor. You wanna go see her?"

"No thanks."

"I think there are some twins down there too. You wanna see them?"

"Not really."

Mary overheard the conversation on her way back to the waiting room. Jed was desperate. He was doing the best he could under the circumstances, but the only person who had the power to cheer the girls up was their mother. That wasn't going to stop Jed from trying though, unless she could come up with a way to distract them for a little while to take the heat off of him.

"Abigail once told me the cafeteria here has the best chocolate cake of any hospital in New Hampshire." Mary held her hand out to Zoey who instinctively took it. "You girls want to try it?"

"I don't feel like cake," Ellie responded as Jed stood up.

"Come on, Ellie." James prodded her a tad. "Just a few bites. We can order some for Mom too and take it home with us. She'll be grateful for it tomorrow when she's hunting for some sweets."

Convinced, Ellie looked to Jed for permission.

"Eat enough cake for me," he told her. "You too, Lizzie."

"I don't want to," Liz insisted strongly.

"Why not?"

"I'd rather stay here with you."

"I'm just standing here."

"Then I'll stand with you. I don't want to go anywhere."

It didn't matter how much Jed pushed, Liz wasn't going to budge. That stubborn streak of hers shined brightly as she stationed herself in front of her father and refused. When they realized there was no point in trying to change her mind, James and Mary flanked the two younger girls towards the elevator while Jed joined his eldest daughter.

"She probably won't be up for a few more hours," he said.

"Grandma said it was an ovarian cyst or something. It wasn't though, was it?" Jed's silence confirmed Liz's doubts. "Why didn't you tell us last night?"

"Because we didn't know for sure last night. This all happened so fast, we barely had time to comprehend it ourselves."

"What happened?"

"That's a conversation for another day."

"You want to keep us from worrying - me and Ellie and Zoey. That's cool. But tell me the truth, Dad. Is she really okay?"

"Yes."

"Then can I see her?"

"Listen to me," Jed replied, his hands resting on her shoulders to console her. "Your mom is fine. I wouldn't lie to you about something like that."

"I know. I just want to see her, just for a minute. Please?"

Like father, like daughter. Elizabeth wanted to witness Abbey's recovery with her own eyes. Jed prepared her briefly, explaining that Abbey might look pale and sick, that she might wake up at any moment, groggy and confused. He told her that she might even be in some pain. Liz listened to him and never once lost her nerve. He asked her once again and when she nodded, he led her towards the post-op recovery room.

TBC


	19. Chapter 19

Series: Snapshots of the Past

Series: Snapshots of the Past

Story: Man of the House

Chapter 19

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Previously: Abbey was prepped for surgery after she and Jed learned they lost their baby

Summary: Abbey has trouble sleeping; Jed helps Liz through a dilemma of her own; Liz reaches out to Abbey

* * *

One of the things Abbey treasured the most about living in an old colonial farmhouse outside the city was Manchester was her surroundings. The tranquil sounds of nature that penetrated the walls of her bedroom on dark winter nights lulled her to sleep. It was comforting, like a daily reminder of her family's farm in Windsor, the small Vermont town on the banks of the Connecticut River where, as a little girl, she felt safe amidst the noises that echoed from the boundless woods outside.

Back then, waking up in the middle of the night meant tiptoeing through the house to get a drink of water, then returning to her warm bed to tuck herself under her big fluffy winter blanket and fall asleep without a hassle.

The routine had grown more complicated over the years.

On this night, a particularly cold one in late February 1985, she was jolted from her bed, scrambling for answers to dreams that lingered past their welcome until her mind was clogged with images and thoughts that had no place in her adult life. She was drawn to the curtains to peek out at the frozen landscape, aglow under a full moon and a brilliantly clear New Hampshire sky that hosted countless clusters of stars.

She padded her way to the window, quietly, so she wouldn't disturb Jed. A meaningless cause, for he was already awake and when he felt her sneak away, he became alarmed as well.

"What are you doing out of bed?" he asked as he kicked the covers off his feet.

Abbey's voice echoed behind her. "I broke free of my restraints and made a run for it."

"Seriously, you just had surgery."

"Two days ago. It feels like I've been in that bed for a year."

"Your body went through a lot last weekend. Sleep is good for you."

"Says the man who's wide awake."

He wiped at his eyes to clear his vision of lazy cobwebs as she turned to him, flashing an unrelenting stare that meant only one thing - she wanted to talk. "What happened?"

"I had another dream about the baby."

He extended his hand to her. "Come here."

She dragged herself towards him. Moped really him until she was close enough to lift one knee onto the mattress and climb up onto the bed. He reclined on his back while she laid down crossing him like a "T" with her head on his ribs and her torso perpendicular to his. Jed absently began twirling her soft auburn hair around his fingers.

"Do you think it's strange that we haven't talked about it?" Abbey asked him.

"We have talked about it."

"No, we haven't. You've held me in your arms, comforted me, soothed me, dried my tears, but we haven't talked about it, not once since we left the hospital."

"I didn't think you were ready to talk," he said. "That's why I didn't bring it up."

"I'm not referring to me. It was your baby too."

He knew this moment would eventually come. He'd just hoped that he'd be better prepared when it did. Catching him at 2 a.m. by the glow of the moonlight sabotaged any sliver of a chance he had for that, though.

If he was to be true to his heart and to the feelings raging inside him, he would have told her that he was the one not yet ready, that he hadn't yet come to terms with the blistering realization that a baby - unplanned, but loved regardless - lived and died inside her body before he even had 24 hours to acknowledge its existence.

She would have given anything to hear him say that, to be honest and remind her that she wasn't alone, that there was one other person on the planet who felt the loss of this baby as fiercely as she did. She wanted to feel close to him, to nurture a bond that would help them both through their grief and bridge their way out of the pain.

But it wasn't going to happen tonight. "This isn't really a conversation for the middle of the night, is it?"

"There were other opportunities, Jed. I broke down in the middle of the night and the middle of the morning and the middle of the afternoon the past two days."

"And I did whatever I could to console you."

"I know you did. Why won't you let me return the favor?"

"I don't think it's the right time to get into this."

He was staying strong for her, she told herself. And because of that, he wouldn't allow either of them to bulldoze the wall he erected to get her through her darkest hours. Reluctantly, she accepted that - for the time being.

"Is there something else you'd rather do?" Brow cocked, she twisted her head to see him. "Something that doesn't involve getting naked?"

He knew she was kidding. He wouldn't dare think about seducing her so soon after the miscarriage and surgery, but he took the bait anyway. "Must you squash every lascivious thought I have?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"It's my duty."

How good it felt to hear her laugh, even if it was a soft bubble of a laugh. "How are you feeling?"

"Physically? Better. Emotionally...?" She left that particular question dangling.

"You know, Friday night - before...Friday night was pretty spectacular, wasn't it?"

"We had no power."

"That was the best part. It reminded me of when we first moved to Boston. Remember that weekend we were snowed in with no power, no food, and no phone?"

"How could I forget? You were scheduled to go to that conference in New York. I dropped Lizzie off at my parents so I could study all weekend for my Gross Anatomy final on Monday."

"When I came back from the airport and told you my flight had been canceled, I couldn't tell if you were mad or relieved."

"I didn't know at first either." She rolled to her side and placed her palm across his chest. "You were such a good sport that weekend."

"Because I allowed myself to be manipulated so you could use my body to study for your practical?"

"Or so you thought. It never occurred to you I just wanted you naked all weekend?"

"You had me naked within seconds. You had my clothes off, inspecting and probing every limb, every curve, and every crevasse of my body."

"It's possible I might have forgotten to tell you that my lab practical was the week before and that I had already aced it."

"You what?" He pinched her arm. "You took advantage of me."

"If I recall, you weren't exactly a victim in the whole thing. I took good care of you and you were amply rewarded afterwards." She pinched him back. "And don't pinch me."

"I miss that."

"Being pinched?"

"That weekend," he said with a stronger tone and a shake of his head. "It hasn't been just the two of us in a very long time. These days, it doesn't even feel like we're lovers most of the time. We're too busy being parents. Don't get me wrong, I love that we are. I love raising the kids. But we're never just Jed and Abbey anymore, you know?"

"Were we ever? Lizzie was born when we were still newlyweds."

"You know what I'm saying."

"Yeah," she said as she flipped on her back. With her head still on his body, she was staring straight up at the ceiling. "I miss us."

"I've been thinking the past couple of days that once we get back into a normal routine, I want to take you away."

"Where?"

"Anywhere. Just the two of us for the whole weekend. Forget about the hospital, about DC. We'll drop the girls off at your parents so we won't have to worry about them. I want it to be you and me and no one else for a few days. Does that sound like something we can do?"

"It sounds like something we need to do. Don't you think?"

He stroked her bangs back off her forehead and said softly, "Yeah, I do."

* * *

"Five, six, seven, eight..."

Standing in front of her cheerleading squad in the living room of the farmhouse, Liz clasped her hands on count eight and all the other girls followed her lead. Her next four-counts ended with a toe-touch jump and an eight-count choreographed dance move that spun her around on her final pose.

"Tori, you were late," she said. "Becky, your side hurdle needs some work. Also, you have to stick it on the landing."

"Not having Mindy here threw us off," Becky replied.

"You have to get to used to it. If someone doesn't show up to one of the games, or even worse, one of the competitions, we have to be able to perform without them."

"Yeah, but come on." Tori looked around at her peers for the encouragement to say what they were all thinking. "Liz, don't you think we should rework the routine and take Mindy out of it altogether? I mean, she's not here for a reason. I doubt she'll show up to any more practices. She might even quit the squad."

"Not in a million years," Liz scoffed. "Mindy's mom's a total cheerleading mom. She'll never let her quit."

"Well, we think it'd be for the best if she did quit. And if she doesn't, we think you should throw her off the squad."

That bold suggestion came from Emma, one of Liz's closest friends and until that moment, a friend of Mindy's as well. Liz had thought about how uncomfortable it would be for everyone if she continued to lead her squad under the circumstances. Mindy, the person who betrayed her worse than anyone else when she agreed to attend the Sweetheart dance with Scott, was still part of the team and there was nothing Liz could do about it.

"Is this how you all feel?" she asked.

"Yes," Jodi answered while the girls around her nodded. "Most of us never liked her anyway and now that we know what she did...lets just say we think you should strip her of her pom-poms at the next pep rally, in front of the whole school."

"I'm not going to do that," Liz said firmly.

"Why not?"

"Because I don't work like that. Embarrassing her won't make me feel better."

"Fine, then do it any way you want, but I think you should know that none of us trust her, inside or outside of cheerleading." Brenda strengthened her posture at that, standing with her arms folded over her chest.

"She didn't do anything to you guys."

"No, but what she did to you really stinks. I already know how she feels about me and Jodi and Tori know how she feels about them too. She hates us. If she'd do what she did to you, her so-called best friend, do you really think we're going to trust her to spot us the next time we launch into a stunt? It's scary enough with someone who actually LIKES us down there."

Hearing the conversation, Jed poked his head in from around the corner of the entryway. "Which is precisely why teenagers were meant to stay on the ground at all times. I don't know how you girls do it, flying through the air the way you do."

"Dad." Liz sighed.

"It's a dangerous sport, Elizabeth. I've argued that point from the start. I think, from now on, stunts should entail nothing more advanced than somersaults." He said that with his tongue firmly planted in his cheek, followed by a wide grin to assure his horrified daughter he was only teasing.

"Did you want something?"

"Yeah. A moment with you, please."

Liz trailed behind him as he led her towards the foyer. "What's up?"

"You're up early for a no-school day."

"Not that early. It's after 11."

"Then I must be running late." Jed retrieved his wool coat from the closet. "I have a couple of meetings tonight so I don't know what time I'll be back from the office. Could you check in on your mother periodically? Make sure she's okay?"

"Yeah."

"She's a little down. I'm giving her some room to come out of it on her own."

"And what about you?"

"Let's not talk about me right now." Quick to change the subject, he continued, "So you moved the furniture by yourself?"

"We did it together. We needed the room to practice and it's way too cold outside."

"How long are your friends staying?"

"Another hour or two. Why?"

"I'm just surprised you were able to round up so many during February vacation. Everyone but Mindy, right? Did you tell Mindy about today's practice?"

"You heard us talking, didn't you?" Liz didn't need to ask the question. His tone said it all.

"I'm not judging anyone, but I think you made a good decision in there. Humiliating Mindy publicly isn't the way to get even with her and in the long run, you'll probably end up feeling worse. I'm proud of you for standing your ground."

"Don't be."

"Why?"

Liz lowered her stare and mumbled the rest quietly. "It's because of me that Mindy's not here. At practice last Thursday, I didn't exactly make things easy on her. She kept missing her turn and her legs were shaky on her double hooks. I called her on it a bunch of times, even though she wasn't the only one messing up."

Liz wasn't a vengeful young woman. She might have been angry and resentful of Mindy; and she certainly had a temper that, when combined with bad judgment, made situations worse from time to time, but reducing a former friendship to a game of revenge just wasn't like her, and for that, Jed was grateful.

"So you called her out for screwing up."

"I called her out because I was so mad at her that I watched her like a hawk. I was waiting for her to screw up so I could criticize her."

"And you feel bad about that now?"

"I don't feel bad. I just wanted you to know before you thought I was some kind of saint or something just because I don't want to take her down in front of everyone."

"Sugarcoat it any way you want, but I'm your father and I know you. You're not that kind of person, Elizabeth. She hurt you badly. I don't blame you for being mad as hell."

"I was. I was SO mad! I still am!"

"You have every right to be. On Thursday, you were raw from the shock. It's understandable. Now that you've had a chance to cool off a little, you stood up to the other girls. That's why I'm proud of you."

"So you're telling me to be angry in private?"

"I'm saying it's okay to be angry. You have a good heart and she broke it. But as long as she's on the squad, you're her captain too. You have to be professional about it when you're at practice or else it undermines the whole team."

"Are you kidding? They want me to ridicule her."

"Screw what they want. You know that kind of drama isn't good for the squad."

"I guess."

Jed put his arm around her. "If there's one thing I've learned over the years, it's that sometimes, you have to work with people you really don't like. You just have to learn to be civil to them."

"It sucks."

"Yeah, it does." He squinted devilishly. "You can't throw her off the squad, can you?"

"Nope. If I tried, her mom would be in to talk to Ms. Hall before the end of the day. The only way to get away from Mindy is to step down as captain and quit the squad myself."

"Then you're outta luck because there is no way I'm going allow you to let her destroy something else that you care so much about."

Liz snickered the way she always did when she was about to razz her father and approach a more lighthearted subject. "I thought you said cheerleading was stupid."

"I never said it was stupid!"

"When I first tried out, freshman year, you would have given anything to see me back on the basketball team. Just today, you said it was dangerous."

"It is dangerous. It causes more injuries than any other sport...and by the way, you should be thrilled that I'm calling it a real sport now."

"It only took you two years."

"Hey, you're coming out ahead. So watch it, smartass."

"Mom would yell at you for your language."

"Leave your mother out of it."

"Not a chance. Doesn't Zoey get in trouble for eavesdropping? I'm sure the next time you send her to her room, she'd love to hear about how you stood there and listened to me and my squad talking about what to do with Mindy."

Jed turned his head slightly, his eyes narrowly fixed on her. "Am I being blackmailed?"

Liz held out her palm. "We're going to the movies after practice. I could use a five."

"High five or low five?"

"Dad..."

Jed slapped her hand. "Use your allowance. That's what it's there for."

"Fine, then can you give me an advance?"

"I gave you an advance last week."

"Yeah, but I'm saving that for Mom's birthday present." She turned her puppy-dog stare on him. "Pretty please? Dock it from next week."

Unable to reject that look, Jed reached into his pocket and took out a wad of bills. "You owe me...with interest."

"Thanks, Dad." Liz gave him a kiss on the cheek, took the five he handed her, and began strutting towards the living room.

"You're welcome, you moocher."

She giggled and called back behind her, "I'll pay you back, but you can forget about the interest!"

* * *

"Up for a snack?" Framed in the doorway to her mother's room, Liz kept her hands behind her back and a delusive smirk across her face.

Abbey, who had been flipping through her daughters' baby books, gazed up from under the covers. "How was the movie?"

"It was all right."

"Just all right?"

"The last time I went to that theater, it was with Scott," Liz informed her as she neared the edge of the bed.

"I'm sorry."

"So are you up for a snack?"

"Not right now," Abbey replied. "But I would appreciate some company."

Liz climbed in beside her, finally revealing the surprise she had hidden - a bowl of French vanilla ice cream topped with a mountain of honey roasted pecans under a layer of caramel sauce. It was a sinful treat, one that Abbey hardly ever refused, which was why Liz had buried two spoons in the bowl.

"Are you sure you don't want any?" she asked, intentionally tempting Abbey by swirling the caramel around with her spoon.

"You are an evil child."

"I know."

Abbey took the other spoon, scooped up as much ice cream as she could, and nibbled on it before taking a large bite. "Your dad's going to be pissed when he finds out the only thing I've eaten today is this."

"I won't tell him if you won't." Liz smiled wryly.

"He'll know. He always does."

"So what were you doing anyway?" She gestured to the books stacked beside them.

"Reminiscing," Abbey started as she returned her spoon, then pulled Liz's book from the pile, skimming the pages to show her every keepsake she had of her childhood. "Look at this. August 1st, 1968. You said your first real word that day."

"What was it?"

"Daddy. Or, actually Dada. I was putting you down in your crib for a nap and your father walked in. You reached up, hoping he'd pick you up and play with you so you wouldn't have to go to sleep. You always did that. You threw a tantrum whenever I tried to put you down."

"I was a challenge, wasn't I?"

"You were my first. You came into the world expecting me to have all the answers. But I didn't. I was clueless. I'm sure it showed right away. Most of what I learned about being a mom, I learned from taking care of you."

"Mom?"

"Yeah?" Abbey continued to browse the pages until Liz dropped her spoon. She stopped what she was doing then. "What is it?"

"I didn't want to say this because I thought you might be mad at me, but I think I know something you don't want me to know." Liz sat up on her knees. "I saw the box from the pregnancy test in the trash can in your bathroom."

"When?"

"Last week when I ran out of hairspray. You had already left for work so I went into your bathroom to borrow some. The box was just sitting there, I couldn't believe it."

"Did you keep it to yourself?"

"I didn't tell Ellie and Zoey if that's what you mean. And I didn't mention it to you and Dad because I figured you'd tell us when you wanted us to know. But then, you ended up in the hospital and now, I can't help but wonder..."

"I lost the baby. I had a miscarriage." Abbey watched Liz turn away, stung by the frankness of her words. "I wish you hadn't been snooping."

"I wasn't snooping!" Liz defensively returned. "It was just there, at the very top of the trash. How could I miss it?"

"Well, now you know the truth." Abbey set the bowl of ice cream on the nightstand beside the bed so she could move a little closer to Liz.

"How did it happen?"

"In these kinds of miscarriages, the baby never really develops. It's usually due to a chromosomal abnormality or some other problem during conception."

"So it dies in the womb before it's a real baby?"

"It can't survive for very long under those conditions."

"Did it hurt?"

"No."

"Are you lying?"

Abbey cleared Liz's shoulder of her long chestnut hair, tucking a piece behind her ear. "The physical pain, I can handle."

"The mental pain is much worse though, right?"

"Yeah."

"Were you and Dad trying for another baby?"

"We weren't," she said without hesitating. "But I got used to the idea really fast."

"That's so you," Liz chuckled.

"Excuse me?"

"You love being a mom so it's not a big shock. It's a Mom trait."

Abbey paused for a beat, her eyes flashing with warmth in response to hearing Elizabeth say those words. She did love being a mom and she was grateful that Liz was finally seeing it. "Is this a new revelation?"

"You could say that," Liz agreed. Jed being away had given her a new perspective on everyone in the family, especially Abbey.

Abbey stretched out, her head propped on her hand. "So what's a 'Mom trait'?"

"Things that Ellie and I always attribute to you. You know, like sneaking pears and apple slices into our school lunches when we specifically asked for cookies, or making us eat disgusting vegetables we would never eat on our own but we agree to because you won't let us have dessert if we don't, or nagging us to clean our room for hours on end until we finally decide that cleaning it is better than another one of your long, boring lectures."

"Yeah?" The warmth was gone now.

"Okay, that's all the stuff we complain about, but..."

"How is that room of yours anyway?"

"It's as clean as it's gonna get."

"One way or another, it better be spotless before you go back to school on Monday."

"Mom, you didn't let me finish. You only heard the bad stuff. The good stuff is that you love being a mom and we know how much you love us and that we can always turn to you for anything any time we need you. That even though you get mad at us, you always forgive us and you're always there to talk to or to give us a shoulder to cry on." Liz bowed her head, looking up through her dark lashes. "Thanks for letting me vent about Scott all last week."

Abbey supportively curled her hand over her daughter's wrist. "He's a jerk. But I'm glad you found out now rather than later."

"So am I." Liz reached over Abbey for the bowl of ice cream. "I just want to find a boyfriend I really care about. I want to be in love for the first time the way you and Dad were."

"It's important to remember that I was quite a few years older than you when I met your father and I was even older than that when I fell in love with him."

"I know."

"You've always been in too big a hurry to grow up. Why is that? Why can't you just enjoy your life for what it is and realize that you're only a kid once?"

"Because it's not fun being my age."

"You'll soon find out it's definitely not fun being an adult. Your dad and I don't have a perfect life, Lizzie."

"But you have each other and you love each other. That's the kind of marriage I want."

"And one day, you'll have that, but you're way too young to even be thinking about this now."

"How old were you when you planned out your dream wedding in your mind?"

Abbey grinned bashfully, knowing she was about to betray her last statement. "Around 14."

"I rest my case." Liz took a bite of the nearly melted ice cream. "I'm not saying I want to get married now. I'm just saying that someday, I want my own fairy tale."

"You'll get it. Just remember two things."

"What?"

"One, always follow your instincts because they'll never let you down. And two," Abbey beamed tenderly. "Marry your best friend."

Touched by the way her face lit up when she said that, Liz pushed the bowl aside so she could lean in to hug her mother. "I'm sorry you lost the baby. You want another one, don't you?"

Abbey pulled back slightly. "How could you possibly know that?"

"It's so obvious," Liz told her. "I think it's cool. You and Dad should have as many kids as you want."

Abbey gave her a wistful smile as she took another bite of ice cream. French vanilla was never Liz's favorite, but when she was little, she always wanted to share some of Abbey's. That endearing habit she had of dipping her spoon into her mother's treat came to an end sometime around puberty when it seemed she had outgrown it. It was clear now that she hadn't.

In many ways, Liz still reminded her of the little girl she used to be. Her ribbons and pigtails had been replaced by hairspray and make-up and her sweet, childlike personality was sometimes marred by teenage rebellion, but every now and then, Abbey saw a glimpse of something that showed her that deep down, Lizzie was still her little angel.

As they polished off their dessert, they thumbed through the rest of the baby books, reliving memories and sharing warm stories from the past. To Liz, they all seemed like so long ago. To Abbey, they felt like just yesterday.

TBC


	20. Chapter 20

Series: Snapshots of the Past

Series: Snapshots of the Past

Story: Man of the House

Chapter 20

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Previously: Liz reached out to Abbey about the miscarriage; Jed learned that Abbey and the girls don't have family breakfasts anymore (Chapter 10); Ellie opted out of the science fair because she refused to give an oral presentation on her project (Chapter 7)

Summary: Jed takes his daughters to the office; Liz becomes suspicious of Christine; Ellie rejects Jed's help

* * *

"GROSS, Ellie!" Liz shook her head in disgust after her sister spread a layer of ketchup over her Feta cheese. "That's disgusting!"

"How do you know? You've never tried it," Ellie returned as she stood at the counter and trimmed her pita pocket.

"I've never tried it for a reason. Yuck!"

"You're a breakfast snob, Lizzie."

"No, I just know what I like."

"And you never try anything new. You're so boring. You're not at all adventurous."

"You're not canoeing the Niagara River, El. You're putting ketchup over cheese."

"Which tastes better than you think. At least I'm not having the same old thing I have every morning." Ellie took a bite of her overstuffed sandwich.

"It's insanely gross." Liz's eyes zeroed in on the dribble of ketchup that landed on Ellie's sweater. "Ugh."

"Snob," Ellie muttered, reaching for a paper towel.

"All right, enough with the name-calling."

Jed's arrival silenced his girls as he rushed into the kitchen and headed directly to the stove. He had planned to cook breakfast before his daughters woke up, but because Liz had used up all the hot water with one of her marathon showers, forcing him to delay his own shower, they had beaten him downstairs.

"Where's Zoey?" he asked.

"She's upstairs playing with Ginger." Liz shoved a few cucumber slices into her pita pocket and began to eat.

"Put the sandwich away," Jed ordered. "Both of you. And get Zoey back down here. We're going to have a real breakfast this morning."

Confused, Ellie swallowed fast. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, you, Lizzie, Zoey, and I are going to sit down, like a family, and have an honest-to-goodness meal before we leave this house."

"We don't do that anymore."

"We're doing it now."

"But..." Liz started.

"But what?"

"I have stuff to do this morning."

"You're still coming with me to the office, right?"

"Yeah."

"We're leaving in an hour. What could you possibly have to do between now and then that's so important?"

"Dad, we don't have family breakfasts anymore. We're used to being on our own in the mornings now, doing our own thing, eating when we want. That's how Mom wants it."

"No, that's how Mom felt she had to do it to get you guys out of here in time for school. There is no school today and I'm running things while your mom's out of commission so get me some eggs, some milk, and some bacon, and let's get to work."

Liz and Ellie glanced at one another, then did as he said without complaint. While Liz wrapped both of their sandwiches in cellophane to store in the fridge, Ellie retrieved a half dozen eggs, a carton of milk, and a package of bacon. Liz fetched a bowl and a whisk and together, they joined him at the stove.

Helping Jed with breakfast wasn't a burden to the Bartlet girls. In fact, it used to be routine. Because Jed and Abbey had such demanding careers, they were bound and determined to snag quality time with their children every chance they got and sometimes, that meant stealing a moment or two during household chores.

They usually partnered up with the girls. If Jed and Lizzie cooked dinner, then Abbey and Ellie would set and clear the table. If Abbey and Lizzie did the laundry one week, then it would be Jed and Ellie's job the next. Zoey hadn't squirmed her way into things yet, but little by little, Jed and Abbey gave her more responsibility, careful not to overwhelm her or trust her with more than she could handle.

"Okay, who's got the salt?" Jed asked his eager helpers.

"You know Mom always complains you use too much," Liz warned.

"Your mother's upstairs."

"So as long as we remind you to keep the salt off her portion, she'll never know?"

"I won't answer that." He knew better than to incriminate himself. "Suffice it to say, I'm as impressed as ever of your reasoning abilities."

Hearing the familiar voices from down the hall, Zoey strolled into the kitchen. "What are you doing, Daddy?"

"There you are, my love!" Jed hoisted her up to sit on the counter.

"Are we gonna cook?"

"You bet!"

By the time Abbey made it downstairs that morning, the smells and sounds of sizzling bacon and scrambled eggs had dominated the first floor of the farmhouse. She took a second to take in the aroma, but as she neared the kitchen, something even more special caught her attention. She slowed her pace to linger outside long enough to listen.

"So what did she say?" Jed asked his middle daughter.

"She said that her older brother told her that God had nothing to do with creating the universe. That it's all science and nothing else," Ellie answered as she turned the bacon.

"No way!"

Abbey chuckled at Jed's response, the powerful inflection that matched Ellie's. It was intentional, his way of letting her know he was hanging on to every word.

"Yes way!" Ellie replied in a similar manner. "So Olivia said her brother was stupid and then Wendy got mad and told Olivia that Olivia was stupid and then they both started fighting until Mrs. Rogers made them apologize to each other."

"Dad, I'm adding hot dogs to the eggs," Liz chimed in with two hot dogs in her hands. "That's cool, right?"

"Lizzie, I wasn't finished with my story!"

"Your stories go on forever, El."

"That's because my stories are interesting."

"Daddy, you wanna hear MY story now?" That question came from Zoey, who was predictably feeling left out. With two sisters who loved to gab and a father who loved to listen to them, she frequently had to fight her way into the conversation.

"ZOEY!" Ellie admonished. "I was talking."

"You were talking to Lizzie, not to Daddy."

"I was talking to Daddy first and I was only talking to Lizzie because Lizzie forgot her manners and interrupted me."

Jed's heart must have swelled to twice its size. These were the things he missed the most while living in Washington. More than the scenic New England countryside and the clear Manchester sky that lit up with a thousand stars every night, more than the comfort of the farm and the peace and quite of the rural surroundings he treasured after the suffocating sound of car horns and midnight traffic in downtown DC derailed his sleep patterns, more than the cozy fires crackling in the fireplace on cold winter days and the taste of Abbey's hot cranberry punch as he snuggled up on the sofa, reading, more than all of those things, he missed being here - in the center of his daughters' world - hearing them bicker lightheartedly and tease each other the way sisters were meant to do.

No one understood that better than Abbey. She approached the foursome, but she didn't dare disturb them in the middle of Ellie's big story, as much for Jed's sake as for Ellie's. He yearned for this time with them and it warmed her heart to let him have it. Leaning against the corner just out of sight, she listened along as Jed prodded the ten-year-old to continue.

"So what did you do while all this was going on?"

"What could I do? They were both really mad so I didn't wanna take sides. And anyway, I didn't know whose side to take because I think they were both wrong. So instead, I kept my mouth shut."

"Good girl." One thing Jed admired most about Ellie was her loyalty. She preferred to stand on the sidelines instead of choosing between her friends and wedging herself in the middle of their conflicts.

"They made up in the end and then we watched Freaky Friday for the hundredth time and pigged out on Doritos and ice cream."

"Together?"

Ellie nodded. "Don't tell Mom."

That was her cue. Abbey hid her amusement, straightened her posture, cleared her voice, and made an appearance, barefoot so the clacking of her heels wouldn't give her away.

"It'll be our secret," Jed whispered and with that whisper, he got the first unmistakable whiff of his wife's perfume. He turned to face her. "Good morning."

"Morning." She didn't bother to tell him how much she had heard, though her coy smile alerted him to the fact that at the very least, the secret he promised Ellie wasn't such a secret after all.

"Mommy!" Zoey launched herself off the counter into her mother's unexpectant arms.

"Oooohhhh, Zoey." Abbey managed to catch her, but grimaced in pain.

"Mommy's still a little sore, Zoey." Jed stepped in, setting the preschooler down on the ground, then suspiciously eyed his wife dressed in a pair of black dress slacks and a coral cashmere sweater. "Which is why she should still be in bed."

"I'm going to work today."

"Already? I thought you going to wait until Monday."

"I'm only working a half-day. If I don't get out of the house for a few hours, I'm going to lose my mind."

"Are you sure you're up to it?"

"Yeah, I'm sure." She assured him with a squeeze of his arm. He had been so solicitous of her since the miscarriage. Abbey couldn't count the number of times he had laid in bed and held her, consoling her with his touch instead of his words because he knew there was nothing he could say to take away her pain.

"Okay." He leaned down to plant a quick kiss on her lips. "You'll call me at the office if you need me?"

"I will." She looked over his shoulder to her two older daughters and the platter they had filled with hot-dog scrambled eggs and trimmed with fresh fruit. "So what have we here?"

"Ellie and I did all the cooking and Dad did all the bossing around," Liz informed her.

"The way it should be." Jed's voice cracked triumphantly. "I thought we could have a family breakfast since the girls are up early for a change."

"Yeah?"

"That okay with you?"

"More than okay. It's just like old times, isn't it?" Abbey picked up the plates Jed had taken out of the cupboard. "I'll set the table."

* * *

"There are four types of legislation, see. We have bills, joint resolutions, concurrent resolutions, and simple resolutions. Once a representative comes up with a bill, his or her legislative team writes it. After it's written, he or she will drum up support and officially introduce the bill in Congress..."

The only Bartlet not bored to tears by Jed's lecture on the process of passing laws was Zoey. Charmed by the idea of visiting her father at his district office, she was hypnotized by every word he spoke, even though she didn't truly understand any of them. Liz and Ellie, on the other hand, weren't quite as enamored by the civics lesson.

"Bills then go into committee and what happens then is they're amended appropriately by committee members and then debated by a panel of House members..."

"DAD!" Liz finally shrieked, cutting him off mid-sentence. "Ellie and I already know this. We learned it in school and even if we hadn't, we would have learned it from you last year during the campaign or the other thousand times you told us when we were kids."

"You're still kids."

"I'm closer to an adult than I am a kid."

"Don't get sassy. This might be old to you, but Zoey hasn't heard it yet."

"Then can Zoey stay here while Ellie and I do something else? Anything else? We were really hoping to find out more about politics...about the interesting stuff in politics."

"I'm gonna do you a favor and not take that personally." Jed dashed to his door and bellowed down the hall. "Christine?"

The girls rose to their feet as Jed stood beside them.

"Congressman?" Christine knocked twice before letting herself in.

"Christine, these are my daughters." Jed nudged them to shake the woman's hand. "You met Elizabeth during the campaign. This here is Ellie and little one is my youngest Zoey."

After greeting the trio, Christine pulled out a page of photography proofs. "I am so glad you girls are here today. I was just thinking that I needed help with this project and Liz, I'm told you're the fashion expert."

Liz beamed proudly. "What is it?"

"GQ magazine is doing a spread on the men who were elected to the House in November. Your dad had his shoot last week and I need to scope out the possibilities for the final mark-up. You wanna help me?"

The idea of her father professionally posing in front of the camera was fascinating to the teen. She looked at him, her jaw wide with excitement. "Dad, you had a photo shoot? Why didn't you tell us?"

"It's no big deal."

"I have 50 shots that say otherwise," Christine countered. "And don't tell the other reps, but from what I heard, your dad was definitely the star. He's a natural."

"That is so cool! When does it come out?"

Her enthusiasm was touching to Jed. "Not for another month. You wanna give Christine a hand with picking the right shot?"

"Are you kidding? Yeah, I'd love to!"

"Ellie, what about you?" Christine prompted.

She may not have been as vocal as her big sister, but Ellie was just as thrilled about the news and even more thrilled to be asked to help. "Do you need my help?"

"Of course! Who's going to break the tie when Elizabeth and I disagree?"

"Cool, I'll do it!"

As Ellie followed Christine, Liz turned a skeptical eye to her father. "You set this up, didn't you?"

"What?"

"You wanted us to help Christine pick the right shot for the magazine to give us something to do."

"Yes, Lizzie, because in the middle of all the political maneuvering I do each and every day while representing my district as a United States Congressman, my main concern has always been keeping you and Ellie entertained."

His sarcasm didn't sway her. "You know I'll pick the right one."

"Don't let me down," he grinned as he ushered her towards the door. "And make sure you hurry Christine along. She's been staring at those proofs for days."

Christine tossed her head over her shoulder and replied, "If you weren't so damn handsome, this wouldn't take so long."

"Get outta here!" Jed closed the door and turned to find Zoey standing on her chair.

"What about me?"

"You, my little monkey, are going to help me put stickers on all my folders and once we're finished with that, we're going to go bug Lizzie and Ellie and point out the picture WE want to use. What do you think of that?"

"I like bugging Lizzie and Ellie."

He put his finger to his lips. "Shh, I'm not supposed to encourage you."

* * *

In a conference room in the back of the office building, Christine showed Liz and Ellie how to examine the proofs using a photographer's loupe. She gave them each their own magnifier and together, the three of them scrutinized every detail of the pictures on the proof sheet.

"I like number 32."

Christine didn't agree with Liz's choice. "I think his eyes are glassy in that one. What do you think of number 41?"

"There's a shadow under his left eye. It makes it look like he has dark circles."

"Ellie?"

"I like number 28."

Liz crinkled her forehead at that. "Number 28 is the worst one! Dad's skin is all shiny."

"I like it." Ellie looked through the loupe again, but she didn't change her mind.

"Well, we need to agree on one so I can circle it and send it back."

"Christine, will they take whichever one we select?"

"No, we just give our input and they make the final decision. But you never know. We may be able to persuade them to use the one we like. Trouble is, I like all of them."

"Do you?" Liz loved her father with all her heart, but even she could admit some of the pictures didn't bring out his best side.

"I really do. He's just so sexy. Look at these." With a red colored pencil, Christine circled Jed's eyes in one of the proofs. "His eyes are smoldering here." Next, she circled his cheekbones in another. "A face to die for. And I won't even get into the full-length shots. I know he's your dad and it probably disturbs you both to hear this, but he is definitely a fox!"

It did disturb Liz, not because Jed was her father, but because she wasn't used to hearing another woman call him sexy. She had heard rumblings on the campaign trail about Dartmouth students who rated him the college's hottest professor. She knew there were admirers out there, but seeing Christine glow the way she did was unexpected and even a bit unnerving. The tone she had used earlier - the one that belonged to a professional communications director - was gone, replaced by a girlish, almost giddy accent that betrayed her feelings more than she knew.

Liz picked up on it immediately. She was so sure of her suspicions that if Christine had been one of her girlfriends at school, she would have busted her crush wide open and teased her with notes scribbled with their names tangled up in a heart. But this wasn't a high school game. This was her father Christine was referring to and that was enough to give Liz the creeps.

She stood up and crossed the room, heading out. "I say we let Dad decide. They're his pictures."

"I told him I'd at least narrow it down." Christine ran her fingers over the photographs. "Look at number six. I fell in love with this one at first - that tight-lipped smile and sweet, boyish expression."

"I see it." Liz was more interested in Christine's reaction than the actual picture.

"But then I started thinking that wasn't what we wanted. We want something bold, something that screams power and shows his handsome, photogenic side at the same time, something more along the lines of number 17." Christine starred that photo.

"I don't like that one."

"Why? Just look at him! His eyes, his face, everything about him is perfect in this shot. Every single woman in America is going to be drooling over him."

"Is that what we want? I thought you said you wanted something that screams power? Shouldn't that be a more professional picture? Like number 26?"

"That one's nice too. I love your father in that suit."

Liz's eyes frozen on the older woman, she added tightly. "So does my mom."

Christine looked up, meeting the teenager's stare. The warmth she had seen there earlier was fading rapidly and before she could acknowledge Liz's statement with one of her own, Jed barged in, disrupting the conversation.

"How are we doing here?"

"Still nothing. Liz and Ellie have different favorites and their favorites don't match mine."

"Well then, it's a good thing I came by to distract you for a few minutes." Jed turned to address his brunette daughter. "Lizzie, will you do me a big favor and help Zoey return the files she dumped out of my filing cabinet?"

"Sure."

"Thanks, sweetheart." Once Liz left the room, he pulled out a report folder and handed it to Ellie. "Check it out."

"It's my science report," Ellie questionably confirmed.

"Yes, it is. You're having fun with Christine, right?"

"Yeah."

"You like her company?"

"Yeah."

"Good," Jed said happily. "In that case, she's going to help you."

"Help me with what?"

"Help you with the oral presentation and if you feel comfortable with it, I'm going to talk to your teacher about getting you back in the science fair."

Defensively, Ellie replied, "DAD! I don't want to do the science fair!"

"It's okay. There's no pressure. She's just going to work with you a little and if you still don't want to do it, you don't have to."

Jed genuinely thought he was doing her a favor. That wasn't how Ellie saw it though. She folded her arms in front of her chest and dropped her eyes to the floor, silently. She was upset by his interference, angry that she'd now have to tell him over and over again that she didn't regret her choice to give up her spot in the science fair. She knew he didn't approve and he didn't have to as far as she was concerned. All she expected was for him to respect the decision that had already been made - by her and Abbey.

"Ellie, I was just like you when I was your age," Christine told her. "Shy and quiet. I hated even answering roll call in school."

Jed playfully jabbed the young girl to instigate a response. No luck. "Ellie, it won't hurt to try."

"I don't want to!" Her mouth glued together, Ellie bit out her words.

"Why not?"

"Because I won't be able to do it, I know I won't. Mom and I already talked about it. She said I didn't have to!"

"She said you didn't have to THIS TIME because the opportunity had already passed. She told you you'd have to try in the future, didn't she?" He asked again, in a less confrontational voice. "Didn't she?"

"Yes, but not now, not for the science fair."

It was hard for her to say those words because in a way, she didn't really mean them. She did want to be a part of the science fair. She was proud of her project, proud that her teacher thought it was the best one in the entire fifth grade, and if it didn't come with a presentation, she would have jumped at the chance to tell others about it.

But it was the crowd. Ellie couldn't handle addressing a crowd. She'd get nervous and sweaty, unable to catch her breath. Nauseous. Petrified. In front of an audience, she just wasn't the same person. Her personality was swallowed by the attention. She felt helpless and out of control. She hated that feeling and anything she could do to avoid it, she did.

It was no secret that Jed had trouble understanding his daughter's anxiety. He thought she'd grow out of it or that eventually, she'd learn to deal with it. She was bright and articulate, considerably more mature than her peers. And she was a Bartlet. If there was one thing she had been taught to do since birth, it was to set goals for herself and to never let her fears stand in her way.

He wanted to remind her of that now. "If you listen to me, I think you'll like what I have to say."

"I won't. If it's about the science fair, I won't like it."

"Give me a chance..."

"I don't wanna do it!"

Jed glanced over at Christine who politely excused herself from the room. Ellie moved then. She stomped her feet to the other end of the conference table, leaving Jed to regret ever broaching the subject.

"I don't understand this, Ellie. This isn't like you."

"What isn't?"

"This. You don't usually get so upset about things. Why is this different?"

If only she could have answered that question honestly and told him that every time the subject of her fear of the spotlight crept up between them, it left her feeling miserable, like she would let her father down if she couldn't overcome it. That was the worst part of all. Even more troubling than the stress-inducing crowds was thinking she had disappointed the one man in the world she always strived to impress.

But telling him the truth wasn't so easy. It would have required showing a lot more vulnerability than Ellie was prepared to show at the moment. So she shrugged her shoulders and gave him a simple answer. "I don't know. I don't wanna talk about it."

"We need to talk about it and we will - at home."

"Why did you tell Christine?"

"Because this is what she does for a living. She's very good at it. I thought she could help you in a way that I obviously can't. I've tried before, sweetheart, and you won't let me. You get mad and you close yourself off from the discussion, the way you're doing now."

"I don't want her to help me."

"You made that abundantly clear." He noted a twinge of remorse about her behavior. "Look, I'm not going to force you to do this, but I'd like to know why you're so mad at me."

"I'm not mad at you. I just hate when you try to make me do things I don't wanna do."

"Life is full of things we don't want to do. You can run away from this presentation. You can avoid it. But what are you going to do next year when you're required to give another one? What about the year after that and the year after that? If you think you're finished with oral reports and school projects that require you to stand up and defend your assignment, you're wrong. You have to get past this point, and you will if you just give it a chance. It's not that hard."

"It IS that hard. It makes me feel sick. I stand up there and all I do is stutter like an idiot. Everyone just stares at me; I can never think of what I want to say. Even when it comes out, it doesn't make any sense. The other kids make fun of me."

"No one makes fun of you."

"Yes, they do! After I choked on my report in class, some of the boys were laughing at me at lunch!"

"They're fifth grade boys. They look for reasons to laugh at classmates."

"Dad, you don't understand."

"No, I guess I don't. That's why I recruited Christine's help."

"I don't want her help!" she barked. "And I don't want yours either. Why can't you just leave me alone about the stupid science fair?"

Jed was stunned by her outburst, so much so that he gave up mere seconds before he lost his temper. "Fine. If that's how you want it."

Ellie watched her foot narrowly circle the carpet. Anything to avoid eye contact with Jed. "Can we go home now?"

"I have a few more things to do. Why don't you join your sisters in my office and I'll come get you when I'm done."

He opened the door for her and followed her out.

TBC


	21. Chapter 21

Series: Snapshots of the Past

Series: Snapshots of the Past

Story: Man of the House

Chapter 21

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Previously: When Jed took the girls to the office, Christine made some inappropriate comments behind his back; Ellie rejected Jed's offer for Christine to help her overcome her fear of public speaking

Summary: Abbey tells Jed she disagrees with his approach of Ellie; while Liz tells one parent about Christine's candor, Ellie tells the other; Jed confronts Christine; Abbey tries to patch things up between Jed and Ellie

* * *

Jed splashed his face with two handfuls of cold water and then looked up. His head tilted slightly downward, his eyes met the reflection of his wife in the mirror. Abbey's expression was distant rather than warm, her stature reserved. He knew immediately what was on her mind.

"You talked to Ellie?"

"Why did you involve Christine?"

It took him two steps to turn around to face her. "Because Christine makes her living speaking in public. I thought she could help."

"We already talked about it. I told you..."

"You told me that the next time Ellie had a project to do, you'd work with her on her presentation. I just wanted to get a head-start, that's all. I wasn't undermining you. I wasn't going against your wishes. All I did was seek out a professional to help our daughter."

"Christine works for you, not for this family."

"Technically, she works for the government. And I didn't ask her to do this as part of her job. I asked her to do it as a personal favor to me. She has incredible speaking skills. I wanted her to spend twenty minutes with Ellie, talking to her. That's it."

"And in the process, you succeeded in humiliating Ellie," Abbey told him.

"Humiliating her? All I did was tell Christine that she's a little shy. How is that humiliating to her?"

"Because we all know how you feel about it. Every time you hassle Ellie about this, you make her feel inadequate. You make it seem as if there's something wrong with her, as if she's abnormal in some way. And now you just shared those feelings with someone outside the family."

Jed never wanted to make Ellie feel less than perfect. She was his child, bright and articulate, sweet and considerate. He loved her so much that it pained him to even consider the possibility that he had hurt her in that way. He furiously shook his head at Abbey's suggestion.

"I have never in my life thought that about Ellie. What I have thought is that we have a highly intelligent daughter who is so afraid of talking to an audience that she'd rather get a lower grade on a science report than present it to the class. She'd rather blend into the background than show people just how special she is."

He dried his hands on a towel, then walked out. Abbey dashed ahead of him to stop him from leaving in the middle of such an important discussion.

"I agree with you, but your way of dealing with it is wrong. Why can't you see that?"

Her maneuver worked. Jed stopped dead in his tracks.

"Ellie is an exceptional little girl and in several years, she'll be an exceptional young woman. My job, as her father, is to make sure she uses the gifts God gave her to the best of her abilities. Why is that so wrong?"

"This is how you want to do it? You want to taint your relationship with her?"

"I'll do it any way I can."

"You don't mean that. If you don't stop trying to change her, it's going to drive rift between the two of you that will last the rest of your life."

"You're blowing this way out of proportion. All I'm trying to do is HELP her. Years from now, I don't want her looking back and saying 'if only someone pushed me a little harder, forced me to find the courage to conquer my fears, I could have been more than I am.' It breaks my heart to think that she would ever settle for less than what she's capable of because of something that's so easy to overcome."

"What if she's satisfied with who she is? I think you're overreacting to this. So she got a B on a science report instead of an A. So what?"

"It's not the grade. It's that she gave up. She's done it before and she'll do it again as long as you continue to let it slide."

"Not everyone is an oratory genius, Jed. She has other talents."

"And this is interfering with her other talents. Since Ellie was old enough to talk, she's been crazy about science. While her friends were playing with Barbie dolls, she was playing with the chemistry set you bought her. Now she has a chance to show off the project she spent months building - the one her teacher said was the best one in the entire fifth grade - and she turned it down, all because she's too nervous to talk about it. Think about it, Abbey. She's not going to accomplish half of what she wants to in school if she can't get past this."

"It has to be on her own time. We can't push her like this. All you're doing is alienating her."

"Yeah, well, it's not the first time, is it? I alienated her when I couldn't give her that astronomy badge two years ago."

She noted that he was much more defensive than she was. She wasn't angry with him and she suspected that his sharp tone wasn't really directed towards her either. It was obvious he was struggling with the battle that raged inside himself over how to deal with Ellie.

"That's in the past," she said.

"History's repeating itself. Have you thought about the possibility that she wouldn't feel so alienated if you backed me up here?"

"How would that make any difference?"

"For whatever reason, Ellie doesn't respond to me."

"That's ridiculous."

"No, it's not. I can't reach her. I've never been able to. But she listens to you. She thinks you walk on water. If you support me on this, she'll come around."

"I already told her I wasn't going to make her do this presentation. I told her the B was acceptable."

"I don't give a damn about the B!" Jed shouted.

"Don't raise your voice at me," Abbey warned.

"The fact is, she didn't even try on this one," he said in a milder tone. "She bungled her last report so badly that it scared her. I don't want her to have to live with that and I don't think you do either. You don't want her to learn that it's okay run away from situations that make her uncomfortable or to give up when something is outside her comfort zone?"

"What I want is for her to feel good about herself. I don't want her growing up thinking that she has to be something we want her to be in order for us to love her and be proud of her."

Leaning against the dresser in front of her, he questioned her. "When have I ever sent that message? When have I told any of those girls that my love was conditional?"

"You haven't." That answer jumped right off her lips.

"Then what are we talking about here?"

Abbey lost the flow of conversation when she reached down into her pocket to retrieve her beeping pager. "Damn it. It's the hospital."

"I thought you were doing a half-day." Jed followed her towards the phone.

"So did I."

"They know you just had surgery, right?"

"It's fine, Jed," she said as she picked up the receiver and began punching the numbers.

"I'm going back to the office. I'll see you tonight."

He opened the bedroom door, initially brooding until he saw Elizabeth standing in the hall.

"Dad?"

"Liz, what are you doing out here?"

"I wanted to talk to you."

"About what?"

Liz paced herself alongside him down the stairs. "Are you going back to work?"

"Yeah. There are still some things I need to do."

"I was wondering - why is Christine in New Hampshire? Doesn't she work out of the DC office?"

"She's interviewing candidates to work as a deputy here in Manchester. Why?"

"I was just curious."

Jed knew better. He could tell by her body language there was something on her mind, and as they hit the bottom landing, he quizzed her. "Did you have fun with Christine today?"

"No."

That was unexpected. "No?"

"No." Liz didn't even pause. "I don't like her at all and I don't think she should be working with you."

"What in the world could you possibly have against Christine?"

"She was fawning over you. Today, when she was trying to pick one of the proofs to send back to the magazine, she was practically drooling."

"Drooling?" Jed thought for a minute that he heard her wrong. "What do you mean drooling?"

"Christine has a crush on you, Dad. And I don't think it's right."

"Now that's funny."

"I'm not kidding."

"Elizabeth, you have no idea what you're talking about. Christine and I have a professional relationship. Nothing more, nothing less."

"She said things about you that really made me uncomfortable."

"What kinds of things?"

Liz shrugged resistantly. "I don't know. Things. Things she shouldn't have said."

"You misunderstood."

"No, I didn't! Dad, she called you a fox. She looked over the pictures and circled your eyes in one of them. Then she looked at another one and circled your cheeks."

"She what?"

"She circled every part of your face, then gushed over it. She went on and on about how sexy you were. It was gross."

Jed took in his daughter's words, confused and skeptical at the same time. "Okay, ignoring the gross comment for just a minute, is it possible that you're mistaken? Could she have just been talking about the picture and not about me personally?"

"NO!" she grumbled, frustrated. "Dad, quit being so clueless!"

"Excuse me, you want to watch your tone?"

"She meant you. I heard her and Ellie heard her too. I would have said something to her if you hadn't come in when you did."

Liz never would have lied about something like this. She bent the truth now and then when it came to herself, but Jed knew she wouldn't intentionally set out to hurt someone else. Still, he wasn't sure she hadn't misjudged the situation.

"All right, Lizzie, be straight with me here. You're saying that Christine, my communications director, said these things to you and Ellie about me this afternoon? You're 100, absolutely, positively sure?"

"Yes. I wouldn't make this up."

"I know you wouldn't. Why didn't you tell me at the office?"

"I didn't want to start something there. And on the way home, it was obvious you and Ellie had a fight so I didn't want to make things worse. But I'm telling you now, I think you should do something."

"I will. I'm going to talk to her about it."

"And?"

"Until I find out this isn't some colossal misunderstanding, I don't know," he said as he slipped into his coat.

* * *

By the time Jed arrived at his district office building, his and Christine's were the only cars in the lot. He opened the door and walked in, scanning the empty lobby with every step towards the office Christine was using. He walked in quietly and framed himself in the doorway.

"Where is everyone?"

"Congressman." Christine stood up. "Jim and Paul went down the street to fax a new draft of the farming legislation to Washington and I told Kathy she could take off early. How's Ellie?"

"Let's just say she's not too happy with me and leave it at that."

"Can Abbey talk to her?" She approached him cautiously, sensing his trepidation though she didn't understand why. "Is Abbey giving you a hard time about this?"

Jed backed up. "What happened today when you were going over those pictures with Liz and Ellie?"

"I showed them how to use a loupe and we examined the photos."

"That's all? Because Liz had more to say about it."

Her face must have turned three shades of red. She knew she'd get nowhere by denying the truth. If she dared to imply that Liz was a liar in this case, Jed would have fired her on the spot. "I made some comments that I wish I hadn't."

"I wish you hadn't too. When you say things like that in front of my daughters, even if you're just playing around, you..."

"I wasn't playing around. I shouldn't have said it and I wish I could take it back, but I wasn't playing around."

Jed tried to give her a way out, hoping that she'd take it and avoid making this more difficult than it had to be. Since she didn't, all bets were off. "Okay, so you weren't playing around. You want to tell me where you get off filling my kid's head with your fantasies?"

"I made a mistake, Jed."

"Congressman," he corrected sternly. He wasn't big on titles. Under other circumstances, he would have welcomed being addressed by his first name. Encouraged it, actually. But here, in this situation, he wasn't going to allow Christine to make this a casual encounter.

"Congressman," she repeated. "I made a mistake. I won't deny that. But to be clear, I didn't fill her head with fantasies. I pointed out that you're a rather good-looking man."

"Liz said it was more than that. And even if it wasn't, you don't think that, in and of itself, crossed the line?"

"Maybe it did. I've restrained those comments for quite a while. I guess I slipped this once."

"What the hell does that mean?"

She circled out from behind her desk. "If we're going to get this out in the open, then I'd prefer to get it all out. I've felt this way since the campaign...and I'm not convinced you didn't know."

"If I had known, you wouldn't still be working for me. I thought of you as a professional. That's the kind of relationship I thought we had." He raised the back of his hand to show off his wedding ring. "You see this ring? I love my wife very much. I'd rather die than hurt her, so whatever you thought I knew, you were wrong."

"I know how much you love Abbey. The entire District knows it. Why do you think I never acted on my feelings?"

"You're a walking contradiction." He stormed out of her office, down the jagged hallways and into his own.

"Even Derek knew how I felt!" Christine yelled as she followed him. "Liz picked it up in 30 minutes! How could you not have known in all these months?"

Jed spun around with a strength so fierce, it forced Christine to back away. "Because I was busy WORKING and trying like hell to balance my duties in DC with my family life here in New Hampshire! It never occurred to me..."

"You were too busy to notice? Or was it that you ignored it because you liked having a supporter in DC, someone on your side who always backed you up with the other staffers, even though your inexperience showed in just about everything you did and said? Why did you think I always fought for what you wanted against your Chief of Staff and everyone else who knew the landscape so much better than you did? Did you really think that your way was better than Lindsay's or Michael's?"

"Yes." It was an easy answer, one that Jed offered with the soft-spokenness of a man who had been punched in the gut and assaulted by the stench of betrayal.

"You're an idealist. As admirable as that is in theory, it's gonna get you creamed in Washington."

Her argument was a blow to his confidence. So he fought back in a different way. "Tell me something, have you done this before? Have you weaseled your way into the lives of other married men or was I just the lucky one?"

"We don't choose who we're attracted to. We only choose what we do about it. And for the record, you're the only married man I've ever developed feelings for."

"But not the first congressman, right?"

"You're crazy if you don't think half the men on the Hill have side relationships with members of their staff or with their lobbyists. It's how it works."

"So I'm finding out. When do you leave for Washington?"

"Tonight."

"Good," he angrily replied. "Don't bother coming in to work on Monday. I'll have someone pack up your desk."

Her jaw clenched, Christine turned furiously and fled the building.

* * *

As Abbey pulled up the snowy driveway, she spotted the tip of Ellie's telescope poking out of her bedroom window. Ellie had tied back the curtains and was struggling to focus the lens at just the right angle. Stargazing was her favorite hobby. Not a week went by that she didn't open up her window or lug that telescope downstairs to gaze up at the twinkling lights in the sky.

Abbey parked the car and called up to her daughter. "Do you see anything?"

"I think it's gonna snow!" Ellie bellowed down.

"That's original," Abbey mumbled as she made her way inside.

Zoey, who had been playing in the family room, scrambled to her feet and ran out when she heard the front door. "Mommy, Lizzie won't let me help her make dinner!"

"Why not?"

"She says I'll mess it up. Will you tell her I won't?"

Abbey kissed the top of her strawberry blond head. "I will as soon as I talk to Ellie. Has Daddy called?"

"No," Zoey replied. "When is he coming home?"

"Soon, I hope. Go wash your hands and you can help me make the salad when I come back down and then later, we're going to read."

"I don't wanna read tonight."

It saddened Abbey that reading had become such a chore for Zoey. "Sweetie, remember what we talked about? Every night, we're going to read a little."

"I don't wanna."

"I'll make it fun, I promise."

"Do I get to choose the book?"

"You always choose the book."

"No I don't," Zoey complained. "You won't let me read what Lizzie's reading."

"What Lizzie's reading is way too grown up for you." Abbey's heart melted at her five-year-old's frown. Being the youngest was bad enough, but to constantly hear that the older sisters she was so desperate to emulate were allowed privileges she wasn't, was even worse. "How about a compromise? After dinner, you and I will read one of your books together and after that, I'll read you a little bit of whatever Lizzie and Ellie are reading. Deal?"

"Deal!" Her sunny face lit up with a smile.

"Go wash your hands."

"Okay!"

Abbey smiled too. She had to let Zoey win one of her arguments if she had any hope of changing her mind about reading. She chuckled at the young girl's enthusiasm as she started up the stairs to Ellie's room.

"Ellie?" She knocked twice before letting herself in.

"Hi." Ellie never took her attention away from the telescope, even when Abbey made herself comfortable on her bed.

"Come here and talk to me for a sec. I want to ask you something."

"What?" Ellie sulked all the way over. She knew exactly what her mother wanted to talk about.

"Well don't act like it's the worst thing in the world."

"Sorry. What?"

"Forgetting about Christine for a minute," Abbey began. "...was your dad's suggestion really so terrible?"

"YES! You said I didn't have to participate in the science fair if I didn't want to!"

"You're right, I did. But I'm not so sure you don't want to."

"I don't. I promise, I don't." Ellie sighed loudly as she collapsed onto her back on the mattress.

"All right, enough with the melodrama. Now talk to me seriously."

"I am being serious."

"You have a book report coming up, don't you?"

"Yeah."

"Well, do you remember our agreement? You said the next time you have to give a book report, you'd at least try to get up there and give a decent presentation." Ellie pulled her pillow over her face, forcing Abbey to lift up the side to see her. "Hear me out. You don't have to work with Christine, but what if you work with me? We can start before the end of vacation."

"I'm not even finished with the report yet."

"Then we'll use the report you wrote on your rocket. Whether or not you decide to give it a shot in the science fair - and by the way, if there's a way to still get you in, you know your dad will do it if you tell him to...whether or not you do that, it's still an excellent paper. And it'll help prepare you for this other presentation."

The ten-year-old propped her upper body up on her elbows, letting her head hang back. "Can't we forget about our agreement?"

"No way. I'm not going to let you continue to get lower grades than you deserve because you refuse to complete the assignment."

"Mom, you don't understand."

"And that's the mantra of every child in America. I do understand, Ellie. I understand better than you think."

"You never have a problem in front of people. You love it! So does Dad and so does Lizzie! I'm not like that."

Abbey tugged on Ellie's hand so she could sit up straight. "You know who once screwed up a presentation in the fourth grade?"

"Who?"

"Lizzie."

That was news to Ellie. As far as she was concerned, Lizzie was perfect. "Nuh uh."

"It's true. You can ask her. Her class had to do a report on historical figures, complete with costume and a memorized speech. Lizzie chose Abigail Adams. I made her this old colonial-style dress from a pattern I picked up at the fabric store. She fell in love with it. She was so excited about looking and sounding the part that she didn't put as much time into learning her speech and when it was time to deliver it, she blanked half-way through."

"What happened?"

"She got a C."

"Were you mad?"

"Not at all. I told her she'd have to try harder next time, but I was never mad and neither was your dad. That's the point, sweetheart. As long as you try, we're never going to be mad at you for messing up. And that's one of the things you're afraid of, isn't it? Messing up?"

"If I start stuttering like I did before, the other kids will make fun of me."

"Not when you win the science fair, they won't."

"You think I can win?"

Abbey cupped her hand around the back of Ellie's neck. "I really, really do."

"I hate performing in front of an audience. I HATE it so much."

"I know you do," she assured her, lowering her hand so she could twirl one of Ellie's blond curls around her finger. "If there was a way I could get you through life without ever having to do the things you hate, I would. But I can't. All I can do is help make it easier."

"Is Dad still mad at me?"

"I don't think he was ever mad at you. I think he was upset that you were mad at him. Are you still mad at him?"

Ellie nodded. "I didn't want Christine to know."

"He didn't mean to embarrass you. That's the thing with your father. He loves you so much that sometimes, he gets carried away trying to help you. Telling Christine was his way of getting you the best private coach he could because he wanted to give you every advantage."

"But I don't even know Christine."

"He didn't think it through. He got excited about the idea and he ran with it - we all do that sometimes. The only thing on his mind was getting someone to help his little girl and to him, Christine was the perfect choice. She's pretty good at what she does."

"I still don't feel comfortable enough around her to want her help, especially after the way she talked about Dad."

"What do you mean? How did she talk about Dad?"

"She talked about him the way you talk about him, except it was weird with her. She was saying things like that he had a face to die for and that he was so sexy. And then she circled a picture of his eyes with her pencil and talked about how hot they were."

"She said that?"

"Yeah. Like I said, it was weird."

"What happened after that?"

"She said she liked his suit and Lizzie said that you liked that suit too and then Daddy walked in and Christine changed all of a sudden."

"Changed because your father walked in or..."

"I don't know. She just stopped talking about it. Anyway, I didn't like it. And I really don't want her help."

"That's okay, you don't have to." Abbey was drowning in curiosity and anger. Even a touch of jealousy ran through her heart. But instead of prodding Ellie on a subject that clearly made her uncomfortable, she tabled those emotions. "Do you want my help?"

"Yeah."

"Do you want Dad's help?"

Ellie shrugged. "Only if he won't make me do it if I change my mind."

"We'll talk to him about that together. Okay?"

"Okay."

Jed's assertion wasn't completely wrong, Abbey thought to herself. She did have a way with Ellie. It wasn't that Ellie loved one parent more than the other. It was just that she connected with her mother in a different way, a way she never connected with Jed.

That topic was the least of her concerns now though. All she cared about tonight was talking to Jed and getting to the bottom of whatever Christine was up to.

* * *

Jed sat at his desk in his darkened office, pondering what happened with Christine hours earlier. He thought he could read people. He thought he could judge a person's character. He thought he could at least separate the good from the bad. But what he learned tonight was that he was utterly clueless.

Christine was the staffer he trusted the most. During the campaign, she coached him for media interviews, fought for what he wanted rather than what was politically popular, and intervened on his behalf whenever he disagreed with his campaign director, Derek.

In Washington, she was the only familiar face after he took the oath of office. She insisted on being part of the team to vet his new staff, she prepped him for committee assignments so he'd get the ones he wanted, she wrote and rewrote all of his speeches until he was satisfied with each and every word, and she generated press coverage on every piece of legislation he wanted amended.

While his other staffers were there to serve the Democratic Party's political agenda, it seemed Christine's main priority was serving him. He should have known, he thought. The person he saw as a valuable professional and ally had ulterior motives and ill intentions. That revelation shook whatever was left of his idyllic view of Washington politics and spurred a rage from deep inside him that caused him to stand and sweep his arm across the end of his desk with an intensity that sent a pile of papers flying into the air.

"JED?" Abbey had just arrived when she heard the sound. Concerned, she rushed in and turned the switch. "What's going on?"

"What are you doing here?"

"It's nine o'clock at night. What are YOU still doing here? Why were the lights off and what happened to your desk?"

"I haven't been paying attention to the time, I'm sorry."

She bent down to gather the papers for him. "What happened?"

He kneeled to the ground in front of her. "Are you going to give me a hard time if I tell you I'd rather not talk about it here?"

That's when she saw his face. At eye level, Jed's tired features spoke more of the stress he was feeling than anything he could ever say. Abbey had come to his office to demand answers about Christine, but looking at him now, all she saw was the man that she loved more than life itself, the man that she trusted with all her heart, was hurting.

She had faith in Jed. Whatever was going on with Christine, it wasn't his fault. She felt it deep in her soul as she stroked his arm from his elbow down to his palm and when she reached his hand, she squeezed his fingers between hers.

"Not as long as you come home with me." Her stare held a wealth of compassion. "I don't know what led to this, but something's terribly wrong."

"Yeah."

"Tell me about it. Let me help."

There would have been a hitch in his voice had Jed said anything else. The love he felt for her at that moment warmed his whole body. He rolled his shoulders as he gave her a nod and helped her stand so they could leave the office together.

TBC


	22. Chapter 22

Series: Snapshots of the Past

Series: Snapshots of the Past

Story: Man of the House

Chapter 22

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Previously: Liz told Jed while Ellie told Abbey about Christine's comments; when Jed confronted and fired Christine, she lashed out at him; Abbey took Liz's car keys away after she hid a speeding ticket (Chapter 7)

Summary: Jed expresses all his doubts to Abbey; Liz tries to sweet-talk Abbey into giving her her keys back; Abbey orchestrates a family outing Jed isn't excited about

* * *

It was a quiet drive back to the farm. Jed was so rattled by the day's events that Abbey insisted he leave his car at his office and ride with her. He stared out the window the entire time and Abbey allowed him his silence, knowing that once they reached the privacy of their home, he'd tell her what caused his outburst.

After she parked the car, she led the way up the front porch, slowing down when she felt she had lost him. Jed had seen the lights on inside and realized that Liz and Ellie were still up, so he stopped on the top step and blazed a path towards the porch swing instead.

"Jed..." Abbey began as she watched him take a cigarette out of his pocket. It was no use tonight. He would argue that he needed it and instead of fighting that particular battle, she bit her tongue and let him light up without a lecture on how he didn't.

"There's something I need to tell you, Abbey."

"Tell me." She sat down beside him.

He struggled with his response. He had to tell her, of course, but it frightened him that she might think what Christine accused him of was true - that he suspected she had feelings for him and he didn't stop it. He could live with Christine's suspicions. He couldn't live with Abbey's. Losing her trust would absolutely crush him.

"I fired Christine tonight," he mumbled softly. He cleared his voice and went on, slightly louder, "She said some things to the girls this afternoon."

"I know."

"It was inappropriate and I wouldn't blame you if..." He paused then, what she said having registered in his mind. "What do you mean you know? Lizzie?"

"Ellie."

Ellie had told her. He should have known that she would. He wasn't angry - he could never fault any of his daughters for looking out for their mother - but now it made sense. That's why Abbey didn't call him when he was late coming home from work. She must have come to the office to confront him or to see for herself what Christine was up to.

Jed nodded as he acknowledged what was coming. "Go ahead."

"What?"

"Let me have it. Tell me I'm a jackass, a miserable excuse for a husband."

It hurt Abbey to hear him say that about himself. It hurt her even more to look into his eyes and know, without a doubt, that he was actually thinking it, that he hadn't just said it to garner sympathy.

"I'm not going to say something that isn't true," she replied. "So yes, I agree..." The corner of her lips curved slightly. "You can be a jackass sometimes." The small breath that escaped him was a sigh that played like a laugh. "This isn't one of those times."

A little more relaxed, he said, "I swear, I never led her on. I had no idea. None."

"Give me some credit. Do you really think I'd be sitting here with you right now if I thought you had been unfaithful to me in any way? I know this wasn't your doing."

No one could read Jed better than Abbey. She could read him like a book, always knew when he was teasing or when he was serious, when he was lying or being sincere. She read his heart, she used to say, and now more than ever, he was glad that she did.

He took a puff of his cigarette. "You have so much faith in me."

"Not blindly. You've earned my faith, just like you've earned my respect and my trust. I know you could never so much as flirt with another woman."

"So say the thousands of innocent wives whose husbands cheat every day."

"They're not us. If you ever cheated, the guilt wouldn't let you hide it. And it wouldn't matter what I said or did because you'd have to live with your mistake forever and that would be your downfall. You'd never forgive yourself." She paused for a beat, then said, "I wouldn't have married a lesser man."

Her loyalty touched him deep inside, gave him back a little of what Christine had taken. He wrapped an arm around her. "I love you. You know that?"

Silently, they swayed back and forth for a while, the creaking of the swing and the harsh whistle of the wind the only sound between them until Abbey spoke up, leaning in to rest her head on his shoulder.

"What did she say when you confronted her?"

"She admitted it. What could she do, really? Tell me Lizzie was lying? She wasn't about to do that."

"Did she make excuses?"

"God yes. It was one big conversation that all came down to one thing - my incompetence."

Abbey sat up straight. "What do you mean?"

"Just a lot of rubbish. She told me the only reason she backed me on the issues for all these months is because of how she felt about me. She said that was why I never called her on it. I supposedly liked having her support because without it, I'd just be some bright-eyed schmuck who wasn't not competent enough to serve cones at the local Dairy Queen, let alone engage myself in Washington politics."

His tone was flippant, meant to convince her that he wasn't bothered by the venom Christine spewed at him during their confrontation.

Abbey wasn't fooled though. "They were the words of a scorned woman, Jed."

"That doesn't mean they were wrong. She's right. I have no earthly idea what I'm doing. I went there to do some good..."

"You ARE doing some good."

"No, I'm not. Everything, Abbey, everything is a fight. There's not a single issue that I can support without at least ten people coming at me and telling me I'm wrong. I can't open my mouth and say what I think without being attacked for it. I don't have it in me to do it anymore. We're seven weeks in and I'm already too exhausted."

She moved to wiggle herself between his knees and sit down on his lap. As her fingers gently worked their way across his forehead, over his brow and along his hairline, she saw his innermost doubts flooding the surface of his innocent blue eyes.

"Oh, Jed."

Abbey dropped both arms around him. She could have strangled Christine for robbing Jed of his confidence at a time when he needed it most. She had pecked at his insecurities, fully aware that under all that chutzpah and ego was a brilliant man still unsure of himself and his place in politics. It was malicious. It was hurtful. It was intentional, and that was the worst part of all.

"Now would be a great time to talk me out of reelection," he said sadly.

She tightened her hold on him, stroking the back of his head as she consoled him with her touch. All night, Jed found comfort in Abbey's arms. They eventually retired to their bedroom and he fell asleep in her gentle embrace, thankful that she let him vent his frustrations without a pep talk. He didn't want her to be his cheerleader that evening. He wanted her to be his sounding board and as difficult as it was for her to listen to him talk about the disappointments he faced without trying to repair his spirit, she did it because it was all he asked of her.

* * *

Just after nine in the morning, Zoey opened the bedroom door to check on her parents. It wasn't like them to sleep so late, Liz had said. Ellie wasn't surprised. Jed and Abbey didn't know it, but their middle daughter had been stargazing through her open window when they were downstairs on the front porch. She had heard them, every syllable they spoke of the seeds Christine had planted in Jed's mind, every squeak of the wood as Abbey paced with him until well after midnight when she finally persuaded him to come to bed.

It saddened Ellie to hear her father's insecurities. He was always so strong and powerful, a man who had all the answers. Her hero, the one person who could do anything in the world. She still believed in him and had it not been for the brutal atmosphere of Washington, she knew he'd still believe in himself.

She didn't share her information with her sisters. When Zoey ran upstairs that morning at Liz's urging, Ellie kept quiet and waited for her parents in the kitchen, casually rummaging through a box of cereal for the jelly bracelet inside.

"Morning." Abbey roamed in twenty minutes later in her pink and white bathrobe with Zoey clinging to her side. "Put the cereal away, Ellie. I'm making apple-cinnamon waffles for breakfast."

"I'm looking for the prize."

"I'll help you, Mom," Liz offered after she set aside her magazine.

"Thanks."

"Daddy said he'd take me ice skating after we eat," Zoey informed the older girls. Both she and Ellie were still in their socks and PJs.

"And I thought we could all go," Abbey added.

"Cool!"

While the idea enthused Ellie, Liz was less excited. "Count me out. Tori and I are hitting the mall."

That was news to Abbey. "No, you're not. It's your dad's last full day home. It'll mean a lot to him."

"So you guys go and have fun. Why do I have to be there?"

"Lizzie, I want it to be a family thing and last time I checked, you were still a part of this family. You can go to the mall any other day."

"I already made these plans, Mom. You can't always expect me to cancel at the last minute."

"Excuse me, always?"

Liz rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean."

Abbey adopted a different approach. "Postpone a couple of hours and I'll drop you off afterwards."

"All right, I'll postpone," Liz agreed. "But I don't need you to drop me off. Tori's picking me up."

"Not until she passes my driving test, she's not."

Another roll of the eyes. Liz was well aware of the rules - friends weren't allowed to drive her around town until they had driven with either Jed or Abbey first. That's just the way it was, regardless of how many times she launched a protest.

"Mom..."

"I don't want to hear it."

"You realize you're the only parents in New Hampshire with this rule, right? Probably the only parents in the country. No other mother puts her kids through this."

"Am I torturing you, my sweet, fragile little angel?" Abbey smiled wryly.

"Yes, as a matter of fact. And I'm not kidding. It's SO embarrassing."

"I'm sorry, that's the way it is."

Catching the tail end of the conversation, Jed thundered in, his hair still damp from his shower. "And what exactly is it that's so embarrassing this week?"

"She's upset that Tori can't drive her to the mall," Abbey told him as she gathered the ingredients she needed to start breakfast.

"Hasn't passed the Bartlet driving test yet, huh?"

"Nope."

"How about a deal?" Liz poked her head up from behind the refrigerator door where Abbey was standing. "You give me my car keys back and I'll drive so Tori doesn't have to."

Abbey gave her a nod for effort as she shut the fridge. "Nice try."

"Mom, hear me out."

"Liz, have you forgotten about that speeding ticket?"

"That was like forever ago."

"Three weeks."

"Three and a half. Almost a month. One-twelfth of the year."

"I don't care. You're not getting your keys back."

Instead of jumping in to the middle of his wife and daughter's disagreement the way he would have normally done, Jed chose to sit this one out. He joined Ellie and Zoey at the table where the two girls were debating whether or not Liz would be allowed to drive again.

"She'll never change her mind," Ellie told her baby sister.

"Can I have your pink princess pillow if she does?" Zoey asked.

"No way! We're not betting."

"Why not?"

"Hang on, what's going on?" Jed interjected.

Ellie answered him. "Lizzie's been begging Mom for her keys since the day she was grounded. Mom's never gonna give them back to her. Zoey wants her to because Lizzie blames her since she's the one who squealed about the ticket and got her in trouble."

Zoey stood up on her chair to talk to her father. "Mommy said it wasn't my business. Will you tell her Lizzie should be allowed to drive again?"

"I don't think it'll do any good, sweetheart." Jed helped her sit back down. "But I will tell Liz it's not your fault."

"No! Talk to Mommy!"

"He said it won't do any good, Zo. Mom never changes her mind about anything. Ever." And no one knew that better than Ellie.

Back at the counter, Liz had glued herself to Abbey's side. "So I'm trapped here forever without any way of getting around? At this rate, Ellie will be driving before I will."

"Good, then you can ask her for rides."

That comment was met with a narrow-eyed stare from Liz. "That's not funny."

Abbey surrendered that one. When she was Liz's age, what annoyed her more than anything else was when she wasn't taken seriously by the adults around her. "You're right. I shouldn't have minimized your feelings. I'm just not comfortable yet with the idea of you behind the wheel again."

"But I promise..."

"You can make all the promises you want. This wasn't just a mistake, Liz. You were going SEVENTEEN miles over the limit. That's not just a lapse of judgment. It's a blatant disregard for your safety."

"I wasn't paying attention. My mind was on the radio and I was talking to Mindy. It'll never happen again."

"Listen to me, I know you think I'm overreacting, but I see kids your age brought in to the hospital every day because of the stupid things they do in a car. You're not driving again until I'm satisfied that you're going to do it responsibly."

"I told you," Ellie whispered at the table. "I knew she wouldn't back down."

"She still might."

Jed quieted both girls. His attention, like theirs, was with Liz and Abbey. He pledged to sit on the sidelines, but if things escalated to a fight, he'd have no choice but to step in.

From behind her mother, Liz moved forward and kissed her cheek, then rested her chin on her shoulder. "You're right. I was an idiot," she said.

"Are you buttering me up?"

"I'm just saying that you have a point. It was reckless and dumb and I don't blame you for taking my keys away."

"Has she tried this move before?" Jed asked Ellie and Zoey. He knew Liz well. When it came to something she really wanted to do, she wasn't usually so calm and reasonable. He figured this was just a way of manipulating Abbey.

"She's serious," Ellie told him.

Liz's attitude didn't surprise Abbey quite as much. "So if you agree that I was right to take your keys away, then we have no problem."

"I don't blame you, but I do want you to know that I learned my lesson. I will never, ever, EVER speed again. You can trust me to drive and I hope you'll give me another chance to prove it."

As Abbey turned slightly to see her daughter's face, she saw the sincerity in her eyes. With a deep breath, she replied, "You're into making deals? Here's one. You can drive again as long as you drive with me and only me until I decide you can solo."

"Okay!"

At the table, Zoey smiled gleefully at Ellie.

"To be clear," Abbey continued, "that means I'll be with you on the drive to school every morning."

"And then what, you'd take the car to work and I'd ride the bus home after school?"

"For now."

That gave Liz pause. "But everyone will know. That's humiliating."

"Take it or leave it."

"Can't we work something else out? Please?"

"Take it or leave it," Abbey said more firmly this time.

"I'll leave it."

"LIZZIE!" Zoey shouted at her from the table.

And after that, it was Ellie's turn. "Take the deal, Lizzie! It's the only way!"

Jed saw her turn to him for help with Abbey, but staying out of it meant staying neutral. Or at least, trying to. He opened up the Saturday paper. "Don't look at me."

Liz struggled with her choice. Ellie and Zoey were so insistent that it energized her to attempt a new strategy. "Okay, Mom, listen. I was unbelievably irresponsible. If I ever do anything like that again, take my keys away forever. But I'm giving you my word, I will be an ideal driver from now on."

She hugged Abbey from behind.

"Elizabeth, as much as I love these little bursts of affection, it's not going to change anything. I told you the conditions. There's no more leeway here, no matter how many little cheerleaders you have ready to fight this one out for you." She threw a glance to her two younger daughters.

Ellie quickly denied her part. "We didn't do anything."

"Yet." Though she officially put up a strong front, Abbey was glad that Liz had two co-conspirators as supportive as Ellie and Zoey. "This deal's on the table until after breakfast."

"And after that?" Liz pulled away.

"It's gone. And don't think you'll get a better offer out of me if you turn it down. The next deal will involve one of those 'how's my driving' bumper stickers with a toll free number that goes straight to my office phone."

"You're not serious."

Jed laughed as flipped the pages of his paper. "Don't test her, Lizzie."

With a little reluctance, Liz clenched her eyes and said, "All right, I'll take it. But I'm not thrilled about it."

"I didn't expect you to be." Abbey handed her an apple and a knife. "Peel some apples for me?"

"When do I get to drive?"

"On the way to the mall to meet Tori tonight."

Liz smiled. "Okay."

It was over and it never even grew past a mild disagreement. Jed was proud of both of them - Liz for staying to talk things out instead of stomping up to her room in a tantrum and Abbey for softening her original stand to strike a compromise with her, something she didn't usually do. Jed was the dealmaker. Abbey normally scoffed at the thought. The fact that she now did it with Liz proved to Jed that things really were improving between the two of them.

He watched as Abbey separated two eggs and Liz began peeling the apples.

"Don't do it like that! You're going to cut yourself!"

"Mom, it's not like I've never used a knife before."

"You obviously never learned how to use one correctly."

"Don't treat me like a little girl. I'm 16. I peel and slice things all the time."

"And you always scare me to death when you do." She took the knife out of her daughter's hand to show her the proper way to handle dangerous utensils. "Do it like this."

Liz hesitated when Abbey handed it to her. "You mean you're gonna give careless, reckless ME the honor of trying it now?"

"Against my better judgment." Abbey was unamused.

As she turned her back, Liz screeched and clutched fingers. "OWWWWWW!"

"WHAT HAPPENED? LET ME SEE!"

Abbey's alarm forced Liz to come clean a lot sooner than she planned. She held up her hand. "Just kidding."

"You're grounded for the rest of the year."

"Fat chance. It was funny, admit it!"

Abbey rejected that notion. "It wasn't the least bit funny."

"Sure it was. I got you good that time!"

"Are you going to pat yourself on the back or are you going to help me cook?"

"I'll help." Liz elbowed her mother and under her breath, she mumbled, "Grouch."

Abbey elbowed her back. "Remember what they say about paybacks, baby doll."

Jed, who had lunged towards his screaming daughter when he thought she was injured, breathed a sigh of relief as he picked up his mug and poured himself a cup of coffee. "And here I was thinking something had changed around here."

Abbey flicked her brow at him. "Set the table, Jed. You promised the kids a day of ice skating."

"No, I promised Zoey," Jed replied. "Aw, come on, Abbey."

He wasn't very good at skating. He never developed a talent for it because he never really understood the point. Why anyone would want to slide across a sheet of ice with just a thin strip of steel to keep them balanced baffled him. Had he not had three daughters who loved ice skating as much Liz, Ellie, and Zoey did, he probably never would have dared to brave that frozen pond.

"It'll be fun," Abbey promised. "I think we could all use some fun for a change."

"You're going to force me to wear the skates."

"You already told Zoey you'd take her."

"Yes and I was planning to watch from a safe distance. Don't make me do it."

"You sound like a child."

"When the four of you get me out there, you push me - against my will - onto the ice and then you make fun of me for slipping and sliding."

Just the thought of her father hurling aimlessly around the pond with his arms flailing wildly in a desperate, and usually failed, attempt to grab something, or someone, to keep himself upright made Liz laugh. "You are pretty funny on the ice, Dad."

"You see?" Jed addressed his wife. "It's already starting."

Abbey tossed her head to the side. "They wouldn't laugh at you if you'd just let yourself fall instead of trying hopelessly to outwit gravity."

"All right, here's the way it's gonna be. If we're going out there as a family, then we're going skate like a family. We'll skate together, side by side."

Liz shook her head. "Oh, that is just too corny for words."

"I'm not kidding either. I go down, I'm taking the rest of you with me." He looked at Abbey. "Starting with you, babe. Since this was your idea and all."

"Fine by me. I'm confident in my ability to shrug you off the second you hit a bumpy patch."

He lowered his voice and asked, "Seriously now, can you skate? Are you still sore from the surgery?"

"No, I'm okay. It'll be good for me."

"In that case, cover me, will you? These girls are out to get me and it's a long way to the ground."

Abbey knew some of his slipping and sliding was intentional, just to make his daughters laugh. "I thought you were taking me down first."

"Don't mess around with me. It's us against them."

"I'll do the best I can."

Her lopsided smirk didn't fool him. "Which is code for 'I'll be laughing right alongside them, Jed, as your ass hits the ice.' That's cold, Abigail."

"No pun intended?" Without denial, she winked as she handed him a stack of dishes. "Set the table."

TBC


	23. Chapter 23

Series: Snapshots of the Past

Series: Snapshots of the Past

Story: Man of the House

Chapter 23

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Previously: Jed expressed his doubts about Washington politics to Abbey; Liz and Abbey reached a compromise after Abbey took Liz's car keys away; Ellie was angry at Jed for asking Christine to help her with her science presentation (Chapter 20); Jed and Abbey discussed the possibility of having another child (Chapter 17)

Summary: The Bartlets enjoy an afternoon on the ice; Jed and Abbey revisit the discussion about their future

* * *

On the Bartlet farm, the opportunity for outdoor fun was as abundant as the land. It was a colonial farm, rich with nature's beauty, and though that beauty had been well-protected, when the youngest generation of Bartlets moved in, they had made some changes.

Jed had an in-ground swimming pool installed where the kids swam the summers away. It had a diving board and a big twisty slide, slick enough for Liz when it was wet, yet slow enough for Zoey when it was dry. The screened piazza out back was shaded so Jed and Abbey could sit and watch the girls frolic in the water on lazy summer days without the sun beaming directly down on them. It led to an open patio in the shadow of a crowd of oak trees, perfect for family barbecues. There was a poolside hot tub that quickly became Abbey's favorite and on the other side of the yard, the gazebo - heated for those chilly evenings when husband and wife planned a romantic dinner for two - was something Jed had grown increasingly fond of.

Despite the contemporary additions, though, the magic of the farm was in its traditional offerings. There were acres of rolling hills that Jed and Abbey took advantage of for brisk morning jogs. The orchard they used for their frequent strolls after dinner was where Liz and Ellie used to fill their baskets with apples before slumber parties so they could beg Abbey to glaze them with her special candyapple recipe. There were steeper hills that were perfect for sledding in the winter, and the paddocks, with a white triple rail that Zoey loved to hang onto so she could watch the horses graze in the tall grass.

Shaded trails gave the girls a safe place to ride their bikes. The large open field is where Abbey taught Liz to play volleyball and where Jed taught them all the rules of football. It was great for Liz and her cheerleading squad to practice their dance moves when the ground wasn't saturated with snow or mud - although they were forbidden by Abbey from doing their stunts any place that didn't have mats - and for Ellie to have her friends over for a game of soccer with Jed as a stand-in coach.

Behind the barn, there was a horseshoe pit and in the garden, a pumpkin patch so the girls could each grow their own pumpkins every Halloween, carve them with their parents' help, and set them out on the porch to welcome trick-or-treaters who might not have stumbled onto their property otherwise.

And of course, there were ponds. Jed and Abbey liked one in particular, one they often used for a lovers rendezvous. It was just north of the barn in an area darkened by outlying woods, far enough away from the house that they didn't have to worry about the prying eyes of their three nosy children if they wanted to be alone to talk or to swim in private, to go skinny-dipping or to engage in underwater recreational activities. They had been known to make love on the shallow banks once or twice, on a towel under the stars.

The largest pond, just beyond the pasture, was Ellie's favorite. It was where she used catch turtles and bring them back to the house. Jed couldn't count the number of times he had forced her to walk back down to return them. Although she had stopped doing that, her curiosity still drove her to occasionally spy on them sunning themselves on logs or stumps in the water. And it wasn't just the turtles she stalked. In the spring, when Jed would leave the shore of the pond wild with brush so the geese could build their nest, Ellie would hide behind the trees and watch.

In the winter, that very pond was an icy playground and on days like this, the snow was cleared from the top so the girls could strap on their skates and glide from end to end. Liz was the most graceful. Nothing ever caused her to break form it seemed. It came from years of dance classes, Jed and Abbey assumed as they watched her move effortlessly around the edge and then skate to the center to twirl.

Zoey, who was still an inexperienced skater, watched in awe as she tried to emulate her big sister. She never quite made it a full rotation without falling down. Chuckling, Abbey stepped onto the ice to help her.

"You coming?" she called out to Jed standing on the sidelines.

"In a minute," he replied.

Spying on his family having fun brought back so many memories for him. He happily recalled past winters when he, Abbey, and the girls spent hours on the ice, teasing and racing each other, skating together until they were black and blue from the inevitable spills they took.

Jed was the worst one of all, and it had nothing to do with the fact that he wasn't a natural skater. Most of his falls were provoked by the knowledge that what his daughters loved most was watching their father careen across the pond with no direction and little balance. Truth be told, although he wasn't crazy about skating, he was capable of making it through an afternoon without falling. He just never did, just like he rarely beat them at chess or outscored them at softball. The joy, to him, was in their beaming faces when they defeated him and if, from time to time, his competitive juices forced him to give it his best shot and legitimately challenge them, it only served to motivate them the next time around, knowing that they would have to work for the win, but that it was fully within their grasp, especially when they were up against their father.

That was the kind of father-daughter relationship he wanted - one where his children enjoyed playing with him, where they didn't shut him out because he always won or avoid the game because they felt they could never outshine him. Once upon a time, it was the kind of relationship he wanted with his own father, one he never had.

Seeing him daydreaming just off the ice, Ellie made it to the edge and bent down to pick up a snowball from the bank. She hid it behind her back until Jed's focus rested solely on Abbey and Zoey, giving her a clear target.

It nearly knocked Jed off his feet, that wet and sorry excuse for a tightly bound ball of snow. The force didn't even make him blink, but it was the shock of the unexpected that rattled him. And when he turned to find the culprit, Ellie gave him a sweet smile and skated away.

"You're gonna get it now, little girl!" he shouted at her.

"You can only catch me if you come onto the ice!" Ellie giggled, skating out further after Jed packed a snowball of his own and teetered threateningly around the shore.

So that's what it was all about, he thought. His middle daughter was trying to coerce and manipulate him so that she and her sisters could laugh at him trying to skate.

"What makes you think I have to do anything I don't want to do? The pond's oval, sweetheart. There's only so many directions you can go."

Abbey kept her eyes on both of them. "Be careful, you two!"

"Don't spoil our fun, babe."

"I mean it, Jed. A snowball fight on skates...take it easy. There's no faster way to ruin a good day than with a visit to the emergency room."

"Nag, nag, nag, nag, nag," he teased Abbey, giving Ellie enough time to grab on to the belt loops on Liz's jeans and use her as a shield.

Jed intentionally dragged out the standoff. He was in his element here, chasing his daughter and plotting revenge that would inevitably have her scrambling away in a cloud of laughter. He needed this moment and more importantly, he needed it with Ellie. His last conversation with her had ended in anger and disappointment. He couldn't talk it out with her because unlike Liz, Ellie closed up whenever he approached, so he had to wait for her to come around on her own, to make the first move. And now he felt a glimmer of hope that she had.

He swallowed his earlier refusal as he stepped over the snow bank and onto the ice. His feet barely moved. All part of his plan. There was nothing like lulling Ellie into a false sense of confidence. The slippery surface propelled him towards the center where the ten-year-old had wandered, and when she skated away from him, he was practically helpless in changing direction - or so she thought.

In a move that stunned her to her core, Jed hooked his skates to turn himself around and aim his snowball at her.

Ellie ducked the throw. "How'd you learn to skate?"

"This is skating?"

"Seriously, Dad?" Liz was curious too.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm just going where the ice takes me," he said with one strong glide after another. He wasn't a champion skater by any means, but he was good enough to stay on his feet for a while and for the first time in the girls' young lives, that's exactly what he did.

Liz looked on, biting her lip and shaking her head. "I notice the ice is taking you straight towards Ellie."

"How about that?" Being unarmed didn't stop him. He was gunning for the blonde little girl who kept dodging him the same way she did when he chased her around the house.

Jed had a knack for making girls think they could outrun him at home. It was always Ellie who ran the fastest to get away and who, eventually, let her guard down over and over again, thinking she had given him the slip. That's what made her vulnerable. He'd catch her, throw her in the air, and bring her back down to tickle her mercilessly. She was too big to toss in the air now. Plus, he was on skates. If he dared to make that kind of move under the circumstances, he was certain he'd face Abbey's wrath later. Still, the same old strategy he had used for years at home worked just as well out on the ice.

As Ellie skated backwards, he got closer and closer, but he purposely refused to make contact. He reached out his hands to fool her into thinking he was about to grab her, the bend in his arm hidden under his heavy coat. Ellie spun out of his clutches and Liz handed her a fresh snowball when she crossed, a move that annoyed Jed.

"That's cheating!" he admonished the older girl.

"Is this like a real game?" Liz questioned.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, it is. And it's between me and Ellie..." His voice trailed off then and he twisted his head to look over his shoulder to spot the offender who had just fired a snowball at his back.

Zoey grinned a guilty grin, holding up her hand and waving as Abbey encouraged her. "Gotcha, Daddy."

"Is this a conspiracy?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, it is." Abbey echoed his words in a tone that convinced him he was now being mocked. A menacing Liz and Ellie skated towards their mother.

"Why is it that every time we get out here, it's me against all of you?"

"Because you're just so fun to pick on, pumpkin. Make sure you don't fall." She threw a snowball that whizzed past him.

"You throw like a girl!" he taunted as he picked up a snowball of his own.

He missed.

"You're gonna have to do better than that, Jethro!"

His eyes zeroed in on his wife and her coven of protectees flew away on their blades as he approached. This time, he wasn't pretending. He held his grip tight and grabbed her at the waist. Abbey tossed her head back, feigning a struggle. He had her right where he wanted her.

"You said snowball fights on the ice are dangerous."

"They are, especially when you don't know how to skate." She ran the edge of her skate along his. "The ice is kinda slick."

"I thrive in dangerous situations." He turned his ankle so that his skate cut off hers. "What do you think is keeping me on my feet?"

"I really don't know. You're surprising the hell out of me."

"Number one rule of engagement, Abigail: never underestimate your opponent, lest the tormentor becomes the tormentee."

"I'm pretty sure that last part's not official."

"Who said anything about official? When I've got an auburn-haired hellion on skates threatening me with her three loyal rugrats, I make up my own rules."

Jed was entranced by her dark, sexy locks tumbling down from under the black beret that was angled to the side of her head. Her arms wrapped around his waist, Abbey pulled one glove off her hand and stuck her bare fingers down his back pocket, rubbing his rear in a way that made him weak in the knees and compromised his hold on her. When he was weak enough, she slipped right out of his grasp, under his arms, and boastfully skated around him.

"So do I," she said as she turned from him.

Jed grabbed her elbow. He hadn't meant to make her fall, and when she did, he instinctively lunged to help her. But then he saw it - those smoldering eyes that played with him so innocently just a few seconds earlier were now brimming with contempt, the kind that came from anger, not injury.

He kneeled down beside her, smirking. "You're right, Sweet Knees. The ice is kinda slick."

"You're gonna pay for that later."

"I have no doubt I will."

"Aren't you going to offer to help me up?"

"I don't think so."

"Why?" She was irritated now.

"You think I'm an idiot? If I reach out to help you, you're gonna pull me down right alongside you. That gag's as old as time."

"Jed, you're kneeling down right next to me, your knees are an inch from the ground, your hands are keeping you balanced, and you're still not steady. Let's not pretend you're Scott Hamilton."

"Make fun of me if you want, Hot Pants. You're the one with her ass on the ice." He scooped up some snow, enough for several snowballs, rose to his shaky feet, and aimed at his daughters. "By the way, my sweet little angels, it's game time!"

And in a full, unadulterated attack, he showed the girls no mercy as he broke up their united front and sent them scattering to their separate corners to escape the frozen balls of snow.

* * *

"Am I forgiven yet?" Holding two mugs of steamy hot chocolate, Jed neared the window in the den where Abbey was standing to gaze out at the pond.

"Not yet."

"Do I at least get points for whipping up the most chocolatey hot chocolate in the entire universe? It's true. I'm told by Liz that no one does it better."

Abbey graciously accepted her mug. "Is Zoey tucked in?"

"Yes, but she insists she's not going to sleep until you kiss her goodnight."

"I'll be up in a minute."

Her forlorn stare didn't go unnoticed. Jed set his mug on the end table. He then wrapped his arms around her from behind, nuzzling in to her neck. Abbey kept her drink in her left hand and used her right to cover his knuckles where they joined each other on her belly.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked.

"Today," she replied. "It was fun, wasn't it?"

"It was. You were right. It's what we all needed." He whispered sweetly into her ear, "I can think of a few other things I need tonight."

"Jed." Abbey sighed, amused, as she took a sip of her hot chocolate.

"The way you were wiggling that cute little butt of yours out on the ice, you're lucky I didn't jump you right then and there."

"In front of the girls?"

"I could have covered us with my coat." He drew a laugh out of her at least, however weak it was. "I'm kidding."

"I know."

"No pressure, okay? I make jokes now and then, but I meant it when I said however long it takes after surgery is fine with me. Whenever you feel ready, just know that I'm here."

Abbey turned in his arms. "I already do."

Behind those pretty jade eyes he had adored for all these years, Jed saw something else, something he didn't expect when he first walked into the room. He saw the hint of sadness he couldn't explain. It was there, subtle enough to be dismissed by someone else, yet bold enough to worry the person who knew her and loved her more than anyone else in the world. His concern was masked with confusion and as he framed her face with his hands, his delicate thumbs stroked her cheeks.

"You are so beautiful tonight. I'd love to see you smile."

Abbey bowed her head slightly, pulling away. "Sorry."

"What is it?" It hit him then. The day had been so perfect that he couldn't understand why she was feeling down until his mind pieced together something his heart hadn't yet dealt with. "Oh."

"I don't want to ruin tonight."

"I think we should talk about it."

"No, you don't. You're just saying that because you think it's what I want to hear."

"Can I be in charge of what I think?" He met her smile with one of his own. "You still want another baby."

"Yeah. And you still don't."

"Wait right here."

"Where are you going?"

"Just wait."

He practically ran out of the room, leaving Abbey to pace the floor, alone, until he returned a few minutes later with a brochure in his hands. She approached him, suspicious of what he was holding. She took it from him, but didn't even make it past the first line before she quizzed him about it.

"Jed? Adoption?"

"I know you were thinking about the old-fashioned way. I'm still not comfortable with the idea of that. I scanned your old medical textbooks this week. I didn't understand some of it, but what I did understand, I didn't like. The complications and risks for a woman in her late 30's, after what you've already been through...it's all just too much for me. So I thought that if you wanted to, we could read about adoption instead, maybe meet with the agency and, you know, take it from there."

"Part of your objection to a baby was our lifestyle right now. With you in Washington and me here...I thought you said..."

"Yeah, well, I still feel that it isn't the best time to have a baby. Then I realized that we don't have to do it right away. I figured we could research the process and if we decide not to run again, then in two years, we can get the ball rolling."

"Are you doing this for me?"

"I'm doing it for us. I love our girls. I love being a dad. I love it as much as I love watching you be a mom. To be perfectly honest with you, Abbey, I'm still not sold on planning for another child because of the reasons I gave you that night. I think that we have our hands full with our daughters."

"But they're growing up. We're only going to have Lizzie for another year and then she's off to college."

"It doesn't mean we won't still be her parents. She's still going to need us. And trying to replace her..."

The thought of that upset Abbey. "That's not what I'm doing!"

"Poor choice of words." Jed quickly rephrased his thought. "I meant that we shouldn't have a new baby because our other baby is leaving the nest."

"That's not why. Well, maybe it is in a roundabout way. Is it wrong to miss having a baby in the house?"

"See, that's where I'm oscillating. As much as I enjoyed taking care of them when they were babies, I like that our girls older now. I like that Liz is mature enough to come talk to me about things. I like that Ellie trusts you and opens up to you about her feelings and about what makes her uncomfortable."

"I like that too."

"I think we're doing a good job raising them, Abbey. And when they go out into the world, I'm going to be proud of that. The idea of starting over isn't as appealing to me as it is to you."

"Why?"

"Call me selfish, but I think it's great that we can leave the kids with your parents for a weekend so we can be alone. We very rarely, if ever, did that when they were infants. I think it's great that I can spend the entire night in bed with you without having to get up for 3 a.m. feedings or early morning diaper changes. I enjoyed doing all that stuff at the time, you know I did. But I like where we're at now."

Disappointed, Abbey fumbled with the edge of the brochure. "Well, I guess you're still not crazy about the idea. So why did you bother giving this to me?"

"Because I also like the feel of a newborn in my arms. I like rocking a baby to sleep at night. I like hauling out the camera for their first step and listening for their first word. It's not black and white for me. We're talking about another human being."

"So what is it then?"

"I've been thinking about it since you first brought it up and the only answer I have for you is I don't know. I don't know how I feel. I don't know if I'm ready to say, without a doubt, that we shouldn't have more children. I don't know if it's the right thing to do. I think it merits a lot of discussion."

"That's all I wanted all along. I just wanted us to talk about it."

"I know. You understand that right after...you know..." He had been avoiding the word 'miscarriage.'

"Yeah?"

"I didn't think either one of us was in any shape to make this kind of decision."

"And you think we are now?" A sarcastic question.

"Not really," he confessed. "That's why I hadn't brought it up yet. It doesn't mean we can't take it slow though. Sit down, weigh our options over time."

"Okay." She agreed with a smile. "Slow it is."

"And if, somewhere down the line, we decide that we don't want anymore children, I don't want it to be because I said so. That's not the kind of marriage we have."

"No, it's not." Abbey stepped directly in front of him as a single teardrop tracked down her cheek. It wasn't a tear produced by sadness this time. It was one produced out of love. "You'll keep an open mind?"

"I already am."

She laid both hands on his shoulders and squeezed them. "I love you."

"I love you too," he said. "More than life itself."

His arms snaked around her waist to pull her in close.

TBC


	24. Chapter 24

Series: Snapshots of the Past

Series: Snapshots of the Past

Story: Man of the House

Chapter 24

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Previously: The Bartlets enjoyed an afternoon ice skating; Jed suggested the possibility of adoption if he and Abbey decide to have another child

Summary: It's Sunday with the Bartlets; Zoey is sad that Jed has to go back to Washington; Jed and Abbey interview a housekeeper candidate

* * *

On a beautiful Sunday morning in New Hampshire, the Bartlets mingled outside the big white-steeple church at the corner of Union and Pine in Manchester. Church of the Sacred Heart, it was called, and it had been their church since they moved from Hanover.

Abbey had her eye on Jed that morning. He was standing across the lawn, laughing and talking with all his neighbors, shaking hands to welcome new parishioners as if he'd known them for years. There was something about her husband that made perfect strangers feel comfortable, something that commanded their attention. It was that something that made him a successful candidate and from her point of view, a successful politician.

His tenure in U.S. House got off to a rocky start, she couldn't deny that. But she believed in him. If there was anyone in the world who could turn things around, it was Jed Bartlet. His ambition, his integrity, and his love for his fellow man would pull him through this and make him stronger than he ever was before. She had faith and if he lacked a little confidence at the moment, then it was her place, as his wife, to have enough for both of them.

Knowing it wasn't going to be forever made it easier. It was a one-term deal. Jed would have to make it through the next two years and then he could go back to Dartmouth or join a political organization, maybe do some consulting on the side. Something - anything - that would make him happy and lessen the emotional strain of a long-distance marriage.

She smiled when he caught her spying. Dressed in his Sunday best with the flaps of his long black wool coat gently swaying in the wind on his trek over to her, he looked impeccably handsome. Zoey was at his side, her mitten-clad fingers held securely in his palms, and she was gripping him tightly, like she was afraid of losing him. She was glued to his hip as she always was on days he was preparing to leave for Washington.

Jed noticed Ellie at one end of the sidewalk, talking to friends from her youth group. At the other end, Liz was exchanging phone numbers with the teenage daughter of a new family in town. Once he spotted them, he zeroed in on his wife. Abbey saw him heading her way, so she wedged herself through the crowd to get to him.

He winked at her in that flirtatiously testosterone-driven way that one would expect from an adolescent with raging hormones, not a man married nearly 20 years. He couldn't help it. He loved her for her brains and her intellect, for her personality and her humor, and yes, he had to admit, he also loved her for that gorgeous face and sexy body, for those hourglass curves that made him hungry with desire, even in church. Every day, she grew more beautiful and today, wearing a forest-green tailored coat that contoured her sinfully voluptuous figure, a pair of knee-high black leather boots, a black winter skirt and a tight black turtleneck that blended in to the black trim of her coat, she looked incredible.

"Were you giving me the eye?" she asked him as they neared one another.

"Only for the last 15 minutes," he told her. "What took you so long to catch on?"

"I was waylaid by Father Sullivan."

"We must do something about him."

"You know the rules, Jed. No obscene thoughts in church."

"The ship's already sailed on that promise. Besides, we're not IN church anymore."

"The rules extend to the parking lot."

"Those are stupid rules. Believe me, with the way you look today, the Pope, Himself, would encourage me to grope you."

Zoey tugged on her father's hand. "Daddy, what's grope mean?"

Hearing her sister as she approached her family, Liz growled at her parents. "Are you guys at it again? HERE?"

"No, we're not at it again." Abbey cast that denial with a twinkle in her eye. "Where's Ellie?"

"She's talking to Brittany."

"Go get her, will you? We need to get going."

"I'm here!" Ellie announced her presence enthusiastically, jumping down off the curb into the street. "Can we go to Friendly's for lunch? I want a cheeseburger and a milkshake."

"I don't think so, Goldilocks. You had a cheeseburger yesterday and the day before. Today, you're going to choose something healthy to eat."

"Aw, Mom!"

Abbey wrapped one arm around Ellie's shoulder, grabbed Zoey's hand with the other, and followed Liz as she and the girls crossed the parking lot while Jed said his goodbyes to friends he wouldn't see for a few more weeks.

"I want French fries, Mommy!" Zoey's jubilant response was because she had no idea that what Abbey said to Ellie went for her too.

"If I can't have a cheeseburger, you can't have French fries, Zoey. Duh."

"Yes, I can."

"No, you can't."

"Yes, I can! Can't I, Mommy?"

"She already said no to me. She's going to say no to you too. You have to choose something else today."

"You're not my boss, Ellie!"

Liz sat down in the back, rolling her eyes at her sisters who climbed in the opposite door so Abbey could help Zoey buckle in. Abbey had grown immune to the harmless bickering when Liz and Ellie went through that stage so by now, it didn't even faze her. After Zoey was secured, she walked around to the passenger's side, got in, and shut her door just in time for Jed to open his.

He sat down and shuffled his bare hands together. "All right, girls, who's up for some chili cheese fries?"

"MMMMMMMMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Zoey shouted from the back.

"ME TOO!" Ellie echoed.

"Jed!" Abbey slapped his arm.

"What? What's wrong?"

* * *

"I have a suggestion about what you guys should give up for Lent, in case you were wondering."

Jed and Abbey peeked up from behind their menus to respond to their eldest daughter. They thought they had done a good job of hiding their game of footsie under the table. They should have known Elizabeth, the most perceptive of the Bartlet girls, was on to them.

She smiled devilishly.

"Are we embarrassing you?" Jed asked. He agreed that the past couple of months he had been more flirty than usual in public since he wasn't used to be apart from Abbey every week, but his expressions of love were still well within the lines of proper decorum and he suspected that if Liz was pestering him, it was simply for the sake of pestering him.

"I'm just saying..." Her grin widened, confirmation that she was razzing her father. "I'm impressionable."

Jed sputtered at that. "Read your menu, Oh Impressionable One."

Returning from the restroom, Ellie stretched her hand out to him. "Dad, may I have money for the jukebox?"

"Depends on what you want to play."

"Please?"

Jed dug into his pocket to pull out some change. "If you make a lousy choice, you lose your jukebox privileges next time."

"What would be a lousy choice?"

"Anything contemporary." Abbey knew Jed's taste in music, although she didn't always agree with him. "Pick whatever you want to play, Ellie."

"You say that now, but if she picks rap, it's all on you."

Within minutes, they heard Lesley Gore's You Don't Own Me playing.

Abbey nudged her husband. "See, she made a good choice after all."

"Yeah, we'll see about that." Jed saw Ellie walking towards them, upset.

"I hit the wrong button. I wanted Guns N' Roses."

"Told you," he snarked at his wife. "Guns N' Roses. You know that was supposed to be the original title of An Officer and a Gentleman?"

"It was not." A skeptical Liz challenged her father.

"It was. You go tell all your friends this. Before they made him a naval officer, he was supposed to be fighting bank robbers in New York City while carrying on a passionate love affair with his partner. You understand I'm talking about the 1930s version, not the splashy 80s version people go gaga over."

"Guns N' Roses was never supposed to be the title of that movie. I refuse to believe that."

Jed chuckled. "Live in ignorance if you so choose."

Abbey handed Ellie another dime. "Here you go, Ellie."

"Thanks!"

Manchester's Red Arrow Diner, with its red counter stools and large vintage booths, had gained national notoriety in the past few years. From the outside, it looked like an L-shaped shack, but inside, the food and old-fashioned atmosphere gave it a sterling reputation, enough to declare it one of America's top ten diners by the press. That designation lured celebrities into its cramped corridors and during the 1980 and 1984 elections, it also lured politicians.

It became a popular eatery for the crop of presidential candidates campaigning for the New Hampshire primary. Their pictures - mixed with snapshots of the original owners and patrons in the 1920s and 30s - lined the walls to form a collage of who's who among its former guests.

In the back right corner, above one of the booths, was a photograph of then-congressional candidate Jed Bartlet with Democratic presidential nominee Walter Mondale. The girls thought it was exciting, so when they arrived at the diner, Liz immediately sought it out and chose the booth directly below before her father could object.

"I think for next time, you should wear a different tie." The teen's critique was met with a perplexed reaction from Jed. "For the picture. The next time you run, I think you should wear a solid tie when you come here. The stripes make it look fuzzy."

"If there is a next time, I'll take that under advisement."

"Why might there not be a next time? You're not gonna run again?"

"It's not a given, no. Your mother and I have to talk about it and then we're going to get your input, along with Zoey's and Ellie's."

Just as she always did when she wanted to be heard, Zoey climbed up on her knees. "I can vote too, Daddy?"

"Of course you can. Right now, though, you're going to have to sit down."

Liz slid over so Ellie could return to the booth.

"What'd I miss?"

Jed listened for a few beats to the music playing in the diner. "Is this your Guns 'N Roses?"

"Yeah. Aren't they the greatest?"

"They're not as bad as I was expecting. It's a shame too because I had all kinds of sass planned." He could have shelled out a few remarks, but Jed didn't have the same playful relationship with Ellie that he had with Liz, so when in doubt about how his sensitive middle daughter would interpret his teasing, he chose to take the safe road.

That is, until Abbey backed him into a corner. "Are you, Jed Bartlet, admitting that even modern music can be enjoyable?"

"I wouldn't go that far. There's a small umbrella of music I can tolerate and this band is on the outskirts."

Abbey whispered to Ellie loud enough for Jed to hear, "Don't let him fool you. He likes Guns N' Roses."

Zoey stretched her legs out and swung them under the table. "Can I come with you to Washington, Daddy?"

"When?"

"Today?"

Jed looked to Abbey to break the news. He knew it wasn't fair to lay the burden on her, but he couldn't help it. The only thing worse than leaving his family was denying them when they wanted to come along.

"Zoey, we talked about this," Abbey reminded the little girl.

"Dad, if you want, I'll get you a Guns N' Roses tape for your birthday," Ellie offered.

Jed pondered the possibility and said, "Only if you listen to it with me. I don't think I could handle it alone."

"Sure I will! Lizzie and I will even teach you some dance moves."

"Thanks for volunteering me without even asking, El."

Zoey continued pleading with her mom. "But Daddy's gonna get lonely all by himself."

"No, he won't, sweetheart. I'm going with him."

Everyone's attention turned to Abbey.

"You are?"

Abbey locked eyes with Jed. "I was waiting until later to tell you. I called my mom yesterday. She and Dad are going to drive up tonight to sit with the girls for a few days so I can go to DC."

"What about work?"

"I took off. They hadn't scheduled any O.R. cases because we weren't sure how soon I'd be back into the full swing of things after the surgery, so all I'm missing is post-op checks, which Rob Nolan has graciously offered to take care of."

"Abbey, you don't have to do this."

"I know I don't have to. I want to." She reached over the table and took his hand.

"Why can't we go too, Mommy?" Zoey was up on her knees again.

"Because you and your sisters have school."

"We can miss school!"

"No, you can't. Now sit down."

"But I wanna go to Washington!" Zoey plopped herself down, unhappy.

"It's okay, Zo," Ellie assured her. "We get to hang out with Grandma and Grandpa! I bet they'll help us build a snowman in the yard and they'll take us out for ice cream and they'll let us rent ET again!"

Abbey released Jed's hand as she gave her middle daughter a silent nod of gratitude.

"And Nightmare On Elm Street," Liz added. For the second time that afternoon, she was greeted with a steely stare from both her parents. "What? How am I supposed watch the sequel if I've never seen the first one?"

Jed squashed that logic. "You're not going to watch the sequel. Every time you watch one of those horror movies, you and I end up swapping beds so that you can sleep with Mom. This time, I say no. That movie's banned from our house."

"You're not serious."

"I am."

Liz was shocked silent.

Ellie used the break in the conversation to air out her own frustrations. "Is this a good time to mention that I think it's mean to bring me to a place that serves cheeseburgers and then not let me have one?"

Abbey continued to survey her menu. "Yes, I know, Ellie. Your life is just so rough."

Ignoring the side dialogue, Liz continued, "The fun of watching those movies is being scared."

"Until you're actually scared, that is." Jed solicited Abbey's help. "From a medical standpoint, doesn't scaring yourself silly lead to psychological problems of some sort?"

"You can't use science only when it suits you, Dad."

"Why not?"

"Dad..."

"We'll talk about it at home."

"Not today," Abbey interjected. "The girls have to do their homework and clean up their rooms and you and I are meeting with Mrs. Wilburforce at four."

"I don't wanna clean my room today!" Ellie complained.

"You've had all week to do it. It hasn't gotten done so it's going to get done today."

Liz looked to Jed. "I thought we decided we didn't want a housekeeper. What changed?"

"Your mom and I revisited the issue and we came to the conclusion that we do need a housekeeper. And no, she will not be responsible for cleaning your rooms. That's your space, your responsibility. All of you."

Zoey climbed up on her knees again. "Daddy, if I clean my room, can I go with you to Washington?"

"Zoey, I'm not going to tell you again. Sit down." Abbey's tone was firm enough to force Zoey to readjust her position before she finished her sentence.

"Can I go, Daddy?"

"What did I say just a minute ago? You'll see your dad in two weeks."

Zoey crossed her arms over her chest, pouting. "Then I'm not gonna clean my room!"

"Well, if Zoey's not gonna clean her room, then neither am I."

"Oh, yes you are, both of you. I don't want to hear another word about it." Abbey never tolerated temper tantrums in restaurants. Her sharp response reminded both Ellie and Zoey of that.

"Anyway, back to the other thing." Liz never quite moved past the horror movie discussion. "Dad, since you gave Guns N' Roses a try, maybe you should try something even more radical, like watching Nightmare On Elm Street with me. I know I won't be scared if you're there."

"You want me to watch a slasher movie? I don't think so, Lizzie."

Liz huffed as she pushed herself back against the booth. A solid minute passed without a word - unusual for the Bartlets - until Zoey inched herself forward to whine once more.

"But I wanna go to Washington too!"

Liz and Ellie grumbled.

"You will get to go to Washington, just not now," Abbey said. "We're all going to Washington for spring break."

That ignited Liz's fire, enough to rid of her of her bellyaching about her movie anyway. "Speaking of which, I'd like to call a family meeting to talk about spring break."

Jed scanned their surroundings. "Here?"

"Yes. It's perfect. This way, neither of you can get mad when we tell you that we don't wanna hang out in DC all week."

"Who's we?"

"Me, Ellie, and Zoey. All of us. We'll be bored in DC."

Jed didn't buy it. "Come on. This is just your way of manipulating us into letting you watch that movie."

"No, Dad. I'm serious. We talked about it."

"How can you be bored? There are so many things to do in DC. We can visit the museums, take a tour of the White House, visit the Library of Congress, the National Archives..."

"The dream of every teen in America."

"Hey, lose the sarcasm."

"Sorry. It just doesn't sound like much fun."

"Fine. If those things don't appeal to you, there's lots of other stuff. In April, it's absolutely gorgeous! We can see the cherry blossoms, take a cruise down the Potomac, take in a show at the Kennedy Center, visit a jazz club, eat at the outdoor cafés in Georgetown." Jed paused for a beat before bringing out the big guns, what he thought was sure to appeal to Liz. "Shopping."

"You're tempting me," she agreed. Ellie elbowed her in her side to remind her to continue. "But us three discussed it and we don't wanna go to DC."

"Are you telling me that you don't want to spend spring break with me?" Jed was a little hurt by that.

"That's not what we're saying. We were thinking that maybe you could leave DC for the week and we could all go to Williamsburg."

"Williamsburg?" Much to his surprise, the girls had picked a place that inspired Jed even more than Washington.

"That's right up your alley, Jed." Abbey was amused by his little boy excitement.

"It's perfect! Williamsburg it is! We'll have to get started right away on the itinerary. I'll book a room at one of those colonial inns where everyone's dressed in costumes. We'll take a walking tour and a carriage ride..."

With a sour expression on her face, Ellie elbowed her big sister again. "Lizzie."

"I'll tell him, El. Quit poking me in the ribs!" Liz demanded. "Dad, we can do all that, but our main reason...the three of us were thinking more along the lines of Busch Gardens."

"Busch Gardens? Why would you want to go all the way to Williamsburg just to visit Busch Gardens when there are amusement parks right here in New England?"

"Because it's not the same," Ellie replied. "Busch Gardens is nothing like Six Flags. Laurie Herald said it's totally different and she's been to both."

"Who is Laurie Herald?"

"Congressman Herald's daughter," Liz told Abbey. "And her sister Melissa says the same thing."

"Can we go to Busch Gardens? Please?"

"Yeah, pleeaasseee?" Zoey climbed back up on her knees.

"Zoey Patricia..."

Using the middle name. That couldn't be good. The young girl immediately sat back down.

"So, can we go to Busch Gardens?" Liz asked.

Abbey looked over at Jed. "It's fine with me."

"Yeah, okay. We'll go to Busch Gardens..." He spoke louder to be heard over the girls cheers. "UNDER ONE CONDITION. I don't do roller coasters or any of those other goofy rides that travel at subatomic speed or catapult me up into the sky. I don't want to be tricked or coerced. Understand, ladies?" His eyes drifted to Abbey. "You, hot pants. Understand?"

"Do I deserve an accusatory tone?"

In his best Abbey impression, he went on, "Trust me, Jed. It's the new Scooby Doo ride. Lizzie will love it if you take her." Back in his own voice, he said, "Hanging upside down like a bat for two minutes is not my idea of fun."

Abbey laughed at the memory of her husband on his last roller coaster. "Okay, so it wasn't exactly as I said."

"You won't trick me again?"

"I swear."

"Cause, you know otherwise, I'd have to take you through those mirror mazes you hate so much."

"You wouldn't dare."

"Try me." He wiggled his brows.

"You have a cruel streak, Bartlet."

"Indeed." He winked at her. "Now then, are you girls finished tag-teaming us?"

Exchanging glances, the sisters agreed they were - for now.

"Good, then can we please place our order? I'm starting to age right before my picture and that can't be pretty."

* * *

Zoey Bartlet was an expert eavesdropper. She had learned to hide herself in the busiest parts of the house -- inside the kitchen cabinets, behind the curtains in her parents' bedroom, under her sisters' beds -- so that she could overhear conversations that didn't include her. She had even hidden in the dryer once. Abbey found her there, curled up and crying when she realized someone was about to start the machine.

Zoey promised she'd never do it again. She kept her word as far as the dryer was concerned, but she had already scoped out some alternatives. There were many other ways to snoop on her family and being the resourceful little girl she was, she used them all, even ones that were less sneaky than others.

When Jed and Abbey sat down to interview Mrs. Wilburforce in the living room, they didn't know that Zoey was hiding practically in plain sight, crawling on the floor behind the sofa. It wasn't until Jed heard a noise that sounded mysteriously like a five-year-old giggle that they all became suspicious.

"I think we have a spy," he said to Abbey as he tilted his head and gestured to their mischievous daughter ducking out from the corner.

"Zoey?" Abbey stood up with her hands on her hips, but it was Jed who scooped up the young girl and tossed her into the air.

"Mrs. Wilburforce, this is our youngest little gremlin." He whispered to his daughter, "What do you say?"

In her father's arms and still laughing, Zoey extended her hand. "Hi, I'm Zoey. It's very nice to meet you."

Mrs. Wilburforce took the tiny hand, impressed by Zoey's manners. "Well, it's a pleasure to meet you too. You're just as pretty as your picture."

"Thank you."

"Zoey, have you been listening this whole time?" Abbey questioned.

"Lizzie and Ellie told me to do it!"

"Were they too chicken to come down here themselves?" It didn't surprise Jed. Zoey was routinely roped into doing their dirty work.

"They're busy. Ellie's doing homework and Lizzie's in the shower."

"Go get them, okay? I want them to meet Mrs. Wilburforce." Jed set her down on the ground and gave her a gentle shove towards the stairs.

"Now the middle one is Eleanor?" Mrs. Wilburforce was trying to keep their names straight.

"Ellie," Abbey corrected. "She doesn't like Eleanor. She thinks she's in trouble when she hears it."

"Ellie. I think I can remember that. And the oldest is Elizabeth?"

"That's right. Feel free to call her Lizzie." Jed said.

"She prefers Lizzie?"

He grinned from ear to ear. "No, she doesn't."

Ellie bounded down the steps, her voice heard before she was seen. "Dad?"

"In here!" Jed hollered back.

"Hi."

Mrs. Wilburforce greeted the blonde girl with a handshake. "You must be Ellie!"

"I am. It's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too."

"Where's Lizzie?" Jed asked.

"She's drying her hair."

He rushed over to the bottom of the staircase so he could be heard over the blowdryer. "ELIZABETH?"

"I'M DRYING MY HAIR!" Liz shouted.

"We don't care about your hair! Get down here!"

While the voices of father and daughter rang throughout the house, Abbey filled Mrs. Wilburforce in on Liz. "She's 16. Typical teenager, moody at times. She's not too much trouble though and she's a big help with her sisters."

"I'm sure she's as lovely as your other two daughters."

"Thanks. We got pretty lucky with our girls."

Zoey pulled on Mrs. Wilburforce's arm. "You wanna know a secret?"

Mrs. Wilburforce bent down to her level. "Always."

"Ellie and me are gonna have a slumber party in the family room tonight and we're gonna scare Lizzie." Zoey covered her lips with her index finger. "Shhh, don't tell her."

Laughing softly, Mrs. Wilburforce pretended to lock her lips. "My lips are sealed."

"DDDDDDDDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAADDDDDDDDDD!" Liz came barreling down, irritated. "My hair is only half done!"

Jed gave an exaggerated reply when his hands slapped his cheeks. "Oh the horrors!"

"Sarcasm. Nice. Isn't that what you snapped at me for at lunch?" She followed her father to the living room, gasping when she saw they had company. "I'm sorry. I didn't know anyone was here."

"I'm Mrs. Wilburforce." Mrs. Wilburforce greeted Liz the same way she had Ellie.

"Hi. I'm Elizabeth."

The older woman looked at Liz's thick mane of dry hair. A pair of clips restrained the wet tangles on the right side. "You have beautiful hair, half-done or not. Girl like you would probably even start a trend."

Liz smiled as Abbey draped her arm over her shoulder. "You really know how to win them over, don't you, Mrs. Wilburforce?"

"I've raised three boys and two girls myself, Dr. Bartlet. I picked up a thing or two."

* * *

"Why can't we go to the airport too?" Zoey was hot on Abbey's heels down the stairs as Abbey lugged her suitcase.

"Because it's already eight o'clock and you haven't even taken your bath yet. Plus, it's cold and miserable outside. I'd rather have you toasty and warm right here in the house."

"But I wanna say goodbye."

When Abbey reached the bottom landing, she turned to face her young daughter. "Do you really think I'm going to leave without saying goodbye to my favorite little redhead in all the world?" She picked Zoey up and kissed her face. "I love you."

"My hair's not red!"

"It is! It's blondish red."

"Why can't it be just blonde like Ellie's?"

"Because you're not Ellie, you're Zoey."

"Am I your favorite daughter?"

"One of my favorites."

Zoey furrowed her brows. "How many favorites do you have?"

"Three."

"MOM?" Ellie hollered as she dragged her grandmother downstairs.

"I'm glad you're here, Ellie." Abbey set Zoey down on the ground. "Listen you two, you can have your slumber party tonight as long as you get some sleep and you promise you won't scare Lizzie."

"We'll sleep, but I can't make any promises about Lizzie."

"Ellie, I'm serious. I don't want you hiding in her closet or under her bed or in the shower. You may yell 'boo' at her when she walks past you and that's it."

"That's not even fun! She'll call us lame if we do that!"

"That's the way it is. And since I won't be here to mediate, I don't want any fighting. Understand?"

"Grandma can mediate!"

"Oh, no." Mary shook her head. "I did enough of that when Kate and Abigail were little."

Abbey marched over to the foyer to retrieve her coat. Zoey clung to her side and Ellie followed, her ten-year-old mind now wandering on to more pressing matters.

"Mom, Grandma said that when you were my age, you used to have a glass of milk and one cupcake every morning after breakfast."

Mary joined them so she could jump in to defend herself. "I never said every morning. Many mornings."

"And she also said that sometimes, Grandpa would let you have a cupcake and milk FOR breakfast!"

Abbey sighed. "I'm sure if he knew then what we all know now, he wouldn't have done that."

"Yeah, but he did."

"Ellie, if you're heading in the direction of asking if you can have cupcakes for breakfast, let me save us all some time and tell you the answer is no." Abbey pulled her hair out from the collar of her coat, then closed the door to the coat closet.

"But Mom..."

"What is it with this craving for junk food all of a sudden?"

"It's not all of a sudden. I've always liked junk food. You just won't let me have it. It's a known fact that if you keep kids away from junk food, they'll grow up to like it even more. Don't you always say you want to teach us moderation?"

"I am teaching you moderation. No cupcakes until after dinner."

"But why?"

"Because I said so."

"But..."

"No."

"But..."

"No."

"You're not even listening to me! How fair is that?"

Zoey looked up at her mother, wide-eyed. "Mommy, who's your favorite now?"

Abbey turned to her own mother. "Have I told you lately how much I love it when you charm the girls with stories of my youth?"

Their attention turned to the front door when Liz and Jed walked in.

"Dad, don't you ever get tired of provoking me?"

"Nope, never." Jed rubbed his frozen hands together to warm them.

"Quit being stubborn and wear these." Abbey tossed his gloves to him. "And what's going on with you and Liz?"

Detecting some maternal empathy, Liz explained, "I was asking Dad if I could go to the Madonna concert when she comes to New Hampshire. He said that Madonna would never come to New Hampshire because the state passed a resolution banning her on the grounds that she would incite a riot among the, get this...the 'Lizzie Bartlet teeny bopper crew.' He said he actually wrote that in the bill when he was in the state house!"

Jed was beaming.

Abbey confronted him with a disapproving glare. "Why do you like to bother her?"

"It's how I relax." He reached down for Abbey's bag. "One would never know you're only going to be in Washington for a few days."

"Be careful. Your back."

"I got it."

Liz opened the door for her father. "Mom, Grandpa said to hurry you along or you're gonna miss your flight."

"Okay, okay." Abbey hugged Ellie and Zoey first. "Remember what I said about tonight, girls. Be nice to each other. And Ellie, cupcakes are a treat, not a meal. We can talk about why when I get back, okay?"

"Yeah," Ellie mumbled. "I love you."

"I love you too." Abbey then moved to Liz. "I trust you're not going to try to con your grandparents into letting you drive alone?"

"Not unless I can con them into not telling you about it."

"I'm going to do you a favor and take that as a no."

Jed bellowed on his way back to the house. "Hon, unless you want to stand on the porch and wave goodbye to our plane as it passes overhead, we have got to go. Now."

"I'm coming!" Abbey embraced all three of her girls one last time, then gave her mother a hug. "I'll bring you all back some souvenirs."

She pulled back and waved goodbye. Once she finally left, Jed waited until she reached the drive before he glanced over at Mary.

"Can you..."

Knowing what he was going to ask, Mary cut him off. "I'll call the airline first thing in the morning and change her flight."

"And I'll call Dr. Nolan to tell him she won't be in until next week," Liz volunteered.

"Thanks. And remember, not a word about this." Jed turned to Zoey.

"I didn't tell her!" Her big green eyes screamed her innocence.

"I know you didn't, kitten." He kneeled down in front of her. "Pinky swear that you won't let it slip accidentally when she calls you."

Zoey wrapped her pinky around Jed's. "I pinky swear."

Just in time to see the pledge, Abbey raised her brow at the secretive duo. "To what are we pinky swearing?"

Jed rose to his feet, startled. "None of your business, Nosey Nellie! Can I say goodbye to my daughters please?"

"Go right ahead."

Abbey stood in the doorway, suspicious of his denial. Jed said his goodbyes, gave his mother-in-law a kiss on the cheek, then, as he joined her on the walk down the porch steps and towards the car, he sensed something was wrong.

"Abbey, I was just kidding about the pinky swear." He wrapped his arm around her.

"It's not that."

"Then what?"

"I was just thinking how much I always hate leaving them. Especially Zoey. She really wanted to come."

"I know. We'll call them as soon as we land in DC."

"Yeah," she said grimly. "I don't know how you do this every week, Jed."

"Most of the time, I don't either."

TBC


	25. Chapter 25

Series: Snapshots of the Past

Series: Snapshots of the Past

Story: Man of the House

Chapter 25

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Previously: Abbey told Jed she was going with him back to Washington

Summary: Jed and Abbey are apprehensive - for different reasons - about their first congressional gala

Author's Note: I'm doing my best to get these chapters out. It's taking a little longer because I just got engaged (I know, can you believe it?!). My writing partner, Gabriela, is also engaged and both of us are planning spring weddings. Plus, I'm finishing my last year of college and she's finishing up her post-grad work so things are a little crazy right now! Bare with us. I'll keep up as best I can!

* * *

"Congressman Blakley?"

"White hat. He'll be the biggest supporter of the minimum wage hike if we can ever get it on the floor."

"Congressman Watkins?"

"Black hat. He's against welfare, gays, and anything that doesn't advance the social status of the upper-class white man with a trophy wife and three-point-two kids."

Abbey stood at the bathroom counter and flipped through the book of congressional photos, quizzing Jed as he showered. On a yellow legal pad, she took notes to help her match the face with a name in preparation for their first congressional gala that night.

"Senator Hawke?"

"Black hat. He's as corrupt as they come. He doesn't vote for anything that doesn't win him favors from the tobacco lobbyists."

"I notice all the black hats are republicans."

"It's politics, babe."

"Are there any republicans you like?"

"Sweetheart, there are 434 representatives in the House, besides myself. Another 100 in the Senate. The real question is, how many republicans do I know?"

"Of the republicans you know, are there any you like?"

"A couple. But hey, it's not just the republicans. There are plenty of democrats I can't stand."

Abbey continued to peruse the pages. "Senator Stackhouse?"

"Case in point."

"What's wrong with him?"

"He's grouchy, aloof, and he's been unapologetically cold to me."

"Jed, I don't know how I'm going to remember all these faces."

"You're a whiz with names and faces."

"Not 535 of them."

"534." He poked his head out from the curtain, his hair wet and tousled. "I assume you already remember my name and my face."

As he ducked back inside, Abbey set the book on down on the counter and quietly stripped out of her pajamas. "What if I run into Tip O'Neill and forget who he is?"

"That's not going to happen. You've seen him dozens of times."

"You know what I mean. I'm nervous."

"I get that. What I don't get is why?"

"What if I wear the wrong dress?"

"Trust me, Sweet Knees, you could prance in there in a potato sac and I'd still be proud to be with you."

"You're so full of it."

"I'm really not."

"It's our first one of these, Jed. I want to make a good impression."

"Making a good impression is something you never have to worry about. When I walk in with you on my arm, everyone's jaw is going to drop."

"So I'm just your glitter girl tonight?" She lowered her panties down her legs and stepped out of them when they pooled around her ankles.

"I didn't say that."

"What are you saying?"

"You know what, I'm not saying anything because anything I say can and will be used against me."

"I'll grant you amnesty."

"Tomorrow, sure. What happens tonight?"

"My thoughts exactly."

"I don't understand why you're so worried. With all the crap you had to memorize in med school, matching up the faces and names of a bunch of suits should be a breeze."

She released her hair from a ponytail and gave it a good shake. "In med school, I had flash cards, and the material made sense. It wasn't random pairings of people I don't know."

"I'll give you the flash cards, but you realize that when you say that anything in med school made any sense, it's laughable to the rest of us, right? I read those lecture notes. No verbs, no punctuation, just a bunch of gibberish strung together."

"And that's different from foreign policy briefing books how?"

"You can't compare the two. My briefing books are written by legislative aides who obsess over every word..."

His voice trailed when Abbey stepped into the tub. Jed eyed her up and down, from the wildly erotic twinkle in her eye to her gorgeous breasts, her tight tummy, slim waist, and the hips she wiggled towards him. She slid her fingers down his shoulders to his arms, following the line of rippling muscles that glistened under the spray of water.

"You have more to say, Mr. Congressman?"

"Not a thing."

Abbey sank to her knees and looked up at him through her dark, wet lashes. She stroked his shaft first. Jed's hands lost their way in her damp auburn locks and he backed up against the wall as her tongue began lapping at his tip. She nibbled on him gently and when he sucked in his breath, she opened her mouth to take him.

* * *

Jed casually strolled through his office later that morning. Lindsay, his deputy chief of staff, heard him humming a romantic melody as she followed him with a stack of files, an itinerary, and a checklist she had put together to get him back into the swing of things after his week of district work.

"We need to talk about the President's call to action regarding the new healthcare budget," she told him.

"It sucks. What else?"

"Congressman..."

"I don't want to talk about the healthcare bill. I vehemently disagree with the measures in the amendment and I'm in no mood to fight about it today."

"Why? What's today?"

"I'm happy. For once, I'd like to go home that way."

Lindsay shut the door to give them some privacy. "About that..."

"Uh oh. You're about to give me some bad news."

"Depends on how you look at it. We had a staff meeting while you were in Manchester. Michael and I think we've been mismanaging things. We think that the best approach to take from here on out is to encourage you to stand up to Congressman Bennett."

The sudden turnaround surprised Jed, until he pieced it together in his mind anyway. "He took minimum wage off the table, didn't he?"

The young woman nodded. "I'm sorry."

He knew that his absence from Bennett's condoms-in-schools vote would have ramifications. He just didn't realize how much pull Bennett actually had. The agenda that had been locked in place in January had now been rearranged, dictated by a man driven by arrogance and greed instead of his faithful oath to civic duty.

Jed paused for a beat, then mumbled softly, "I'm just as responsible as you guys."

"What?" Lindsay had played this scene in her mind several times over the past week and never had she imagined Jed accepting defeat so calmly.

"I'll go a step further and say that I'm more responsible than you guys. I'm supposed to run things around here. I could have overruled you. I could have chosen to disagree with Bennett instead of dodging the vote."

"You followed our advice because we were the professionals."

"I'm not interested in assigning blame. There's been enough of that the past two months. We've all made mistakes. I hope we've all learned from them. I know I have. So let's concentrate on that, shall we?"

"Yes, Sir."

"I'm not going to roll over on minimum wage. It's too important. We need a new strategy." Jed took his seat. "Do I have any allies out there?"

Her sullen expression answered his question before she ever opened her mouth. "Well..."

"I don't, do I?"

"They don't know you yet, Congressman. They will."

"When?"

Lindsay handed him a list of names. "I made a list."

"What is this?"

"The people you want to try to talk to at the gala tonight. They're the ones you need in your corner to overrule Bennett."

"So it's a working gala?"

"Aren't they all? Just talk to them as soon as you get there, get it out of the way so you can spend the rest of the evening with Mrs. Bartlet. I know you hate doing this stuff."

"Has there been much about this process I haven't hated? It's fine. I came here to do a job and I'll do it, whatever it takes."

"I was hoping you'd say that."

"I know you don't know me that well, Lindsay, but you'll learn that even though I go off on rants from time to time about all the garbage we have to deal with to get anything done around here, I'm not one to shirk my responsibility because something gets too ugly or too difficult to handle. We approached things wrong the first eight weeks. Let's start over. We'll do it better this time."

"Yes, we will," she replied with renewed optimism, energized about starting fresh. "I left Christine a memo about..."

"Christine isn't coming back to work." Jed shuffled his papers to avoid looking Lindsay in the eye.

"What? Since when?"

"Since Friday. We'll have to get an intern to pack up her desk."

"But why?"

"It really doesn't matter why. Who's my press secretary again? The sharp guy who writes all the releases?"

"That's Rick."

"Right. Let him handle all communications for a while until we find someone new."

"Christine just quit? Just like that?"

"We can get into the sordid details some other time. Right now, I'd prefer to focus on moving ahead and stirring things up a bit. Deal?"

"I'll call a meeting."

"Lindsay?" He stopped her just as she opened the door to leave. "Thank you...for all your work. Thank you."

Lindsay gave him a nod on her way out.

* * *

Abbey spent much of that day shopping for a cocktail dress for the gala. She had dipped into her own closet and brought along a couple of suitable choices, but for this event, she wanted something more, something different - the perfect combination of sophistication and elegance, bold enough to grab Jed's attention, yet subtle enough to command respect at a function swarming with prying eyes that were bound to judge her from head to toe.

She returned to the apartment a couple of hours before Jed returned from work. When she heard him jiggling his keys in the lock, she pulled on her skirt and tempered the impish grin that curved the tip of lips.

"Abbey?"

"I'm just about ready," she called.

"It's almost seven." Jed followed her voice to the bedroom, framing himself in the doorway when he saw what she was wearing. "That's for tonight?"

"Yeah. Why? Don't you like it?" She began styling her hair in the mirror.

"Um..." He examined it, the nude colored dress with the sheer, translucent material that, with the exception of her womanly assets which were carefully covered with rhinestones, put her entire body on display.

"Um what?"

"It's see-through."

"No one can see the things that really matter."

"Yeah, but that's not what you're going to wear. I mean, come on, I could use your breasts to guide me home. They're sparkling like headlights, actual headlights on a car."

"And you don't like that?"

"As attractive as it is, I'd prefer we keep that sort of thing in the bedroom."

"Jed, it took me hours to pick out this dress. Now tell me, what's wrong with it?"

"I just told you, it's not right."

"Not right? What does that mean exactly?" If he had looked at her face then, he would have known she was pulling his leg.

"It means..." He continued cautiously, "It's cold out and there's not much material there."

"I'll wear my coat." She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and reached for the hairspray.

Jed glanced down at her side, at the narrow band of stones that crossed her hips from her rear to the apex of her thighs. "You're not wearing underwear?"

"I can't. Panty line. I'm going with just hose."

"And a bra?" He knew the answer to that already. Her back was completely bare under the flimsy fabric.

"Packaging tape," she told him as she pulled on the top of her dress.

"I don't know what that means."

"I can't wear a bra with this dress. Everyone would see it. So instead, I used two strips of packaging tape under my breasts to hold them up."

"Ouch! You can do that?"

"Fashion models do it all the time. They also give themselves cleavage by taping their breasts together."

"You don't need any help in that department."

"Not tonight anyway." She saw the disapproving glint in his eyes once again. "Jed, I thought you said that even if I showed up in a potato sac, you'd still be proud to have me on your arm."

So that's what was going on, he thought.

Her outfit was incredible. It provoked wild, lustful thoughts in him. All he wanted at that moment was to throw her on the bed and make passionate love to her for hours and hours. She knew that was the reaction she'd get. It was the reaction she clearly expected, which proved to him that things weren't exactly as they seemed.

Abbey was a sexy woman blessed with a body that could turn the heads of a hundred men at once. But she was also a woman who exuded class and grace, a regal beauty who didn't have to be told what was appropriate. There was zero chance that she would have picked the tawdry dress she was wearing for something as conservative as a congressional gala. She was teaching him a lesson for dismissing her fears of embarrassing him that morning, Jed assumed. That was the only possibility.

He played along for his own amusement. "You know what, you're right. This dress is perfect for tonight. Screw Michael."

"Michael? Your Chief of Staff?"

"Yeah. He went on some rant today when he found out you were in town. He wanted me to sit you down and talk with you about appearances."

"Appearances?" Abbey's face dissolved into an expression wrought with confusion and a bit of anger.

He tweaked a little more. "Michael thinks you need a stylist, someone to completely redo your look. But you know, I say screw him!"

"What's wrong with my look?"

"I don't know. Something about your wardrobe."

"My wardrobe? What's the problem with my wardrobe?"

"He's afraid it's a little too edgy. The polls say you need a stylist."

"You're listening to polls? About what I WEAR?"

"It's part of the gig."

"JED!" She addressed him with exasperation, enough to cause him to break the act. He laughed as she picked up a washcloth from the dresser and threw it at him. "You jackass!"

"Don't play with me, Hot Pants, unless you want to be played with."

"You're gonna pay for that."

Tugging on his tie, he struggled to regain composure. "It's almost seven. Would you mind putting on what you're really going to wear tonight?"

"Seriously now, what's wrong with what I have on?"

"Abigail."

"You used to have a sense of humor."

"I used to have a lot of things."

"What does that mean?" Abbey retrieved two garment bags from the closet, unzipped them, and held up the dresses.

"Nothing." Jed stripped out of his shirt. "I have to talk to you."

"In a minute. First, tell me which one goes with my hair?"

"Your hair? I don't know what I'm looking for."

"I'm wearing my hair down. I think the neckline on the red one is better served by an up-do. Do you agree?"

"I guess so."

"So the black one then?"

"Yeah. Look..."

"Do you really like the black one or are you just saying that?"

"I like it."

"Because I expected you to say something before I explained about the red. Since you didn't, it makes me wonder if you're just being polite."

"I wouldn't say something just to be polite."

"No?"

"I've been married to you for 18 years. Am I trying to impress you?"

"Good point," she conceded. "So the leather shoes or the satin then?"

"Leather."

"Pump or heel?"

"Heel. Whatever. It doesn't matter."

"It matters to me."

"Who the hell CARES what you're wearing, Abbey? No one! No one cares!"

"I care. You may think it's superficial, but I'm making an impression tonight and it's important to me. When I walk in there, these people are going to size me up, exactly the way they did at the Inaugural ball."

"And? Since when have you been insecure about what other people think?"

"It's not just about what THEY think," she said. "I know you were kidding about the poll."

"I was. I swear I was."

"They do have those polls though, don't they? The thought of being judged like that is something I'm not used to, Jed. I'm not comfortable with it, so if I'm stressing about the little things it's because I don't know what to expect and until I do, I don't want to feel out of place."

Seeing her so vulnerable, he softened his tone. "Abbey, I don't give a damn about polls. I'm never going to ask them to poll what you're wearing and I'm never going to ask you to change anything about yourself because of a silly poll. You believe that, don't you?"

"Of course. I'm going overboard because I'm still adjusting to it all."

"You and me both. I'm sorry I snapped at you, Honey. I like the black dress, I really do. I think it'll look sensational on you."

"Okay, then that's the one I'll wear. What did you want to talk to me about?"

"You're not going to like it." He slipped his pants down his legs. "I'm going to have to work tonight."

"The gala?"

"Yeah, which means you'll be on your own for part of the night."

Abbey tossed her dress on the bed. "Great."

"I know it's not how we planned it."

"No, it's not. I wanted tonight to be about us unwinding and having some fun."

"I was in New Hampshire all last week."

"That's not the point, Jed. One of the reasons I'm here with you is because you said you didn't want to go to this thing alone."

"I don't want to go alone. I had no idea it was going to turn into a political thing. I should have known that everything's politics around here."

"So what am I supposed to do?"

"Mingle." He shrugged. "I don't know. I have no choice in this, Abbey. It's part of the game I have to play right now. It's part of what I have to do in order to get things back on track in Washington."

"And what about getting things back on track with us? You're the one who said we needed some time away, just us as a couple, without the kids and all the hassles of every day life."

"I did say that, but you knew before we came up here that I would have work this week."

"During the day. I thought the evenings belonged to us." She picked up her dress, disappointed. "I guess I was wrong."

* * *

The idea of a congressional gala in celebration of the 99th Congress didn't excite Jed. He was good at parties and he loved to meet people. Ordinarily, he would have savored the scene - the men dressed in tuxedos and the women in elegant gowns or cocktail dresses, candlelit tables decorated with red, white, and blue confetti lining a magnificent dance floor while an upbeat arrangement of classical and contemporary music played in the background, tempting him to forget everyone in the room and focus solely on Abbey swaying to the beat in his arms. But this wasn't an ordinary party. The more he thought about his task that evening, the more he resented it.

Abbey was thinking the same. He could read it on her face when they walked in. She looked so beautiful standing next to him in her black beaded cocktail dress with her sexy auburn waves falling just below her bare shoulders. He knew she would have given anything to dance with him at that moment, and for the second time that evening, a pang of guilt stabbed his heart.

This time, though, Abbey surprised him by squeezing his hand and smiling her support as she whispered in his ear, "Go."

"Just give me a little while," he asked her.

"As long as you promise me a dance later." She leaned in to kiss him, then tenderly wiped his mouth of her lipstick.

"You got it."

She set her purse down on one of the tables, watching as Jed approached a crowd of congressmen and senators who were gathered in the corner. She regretted being angry with him for doing what he had to do. Back at the apartment, she had told him that she was still adjusting to life in Washington, so was it really so unforgivable that he was doing the same?

"Need a mingle buddy?" a stranger's voice asked from behind. "Mrs. Congressman Bartlet, I presume?"

Abbey turned to see a man holding out his hand to her. "You presume correctly. I'm Abbey." She shook his hand. "And you are?"

"At these things, I'm usually referred to as Mr. Congresswoman Harmon. You can call me Richard."

"Nice to meet you."

"You too. I didn't expect to see so many spouses here tonight."

"Why is that?"

"Look around. Our husbands and wives are congregating amongst themselves. That's how it always is at the first gala. That's why most of the better halves skip it altogether."

"Are all the social functions like this?"

"Nah. Middle of the session, things start to get a little more laxed and by the Christmas party at the end of the year, all the wheeling and dealing is pretty much over."

"So in the meantime?"

"It's like a club. You and I don't know the secret handshake so we get to troll the room awkwardly and watch them screw each other from the sidelines."

"Are you kidding?"

Richard noticed her pained expression. "Believe me, it's not as bad as it sounds. After a while, we get a few betting pools going and it actually gets to be fun. Come on, I'll introduce you to some of our cohorts."

Abbey smiled tightly as she hesitantly joined him.

* * *

Political strong-arming wasn't a tactic Jed Bartlet liked using. It wasn't in him to force others to vote the way he wanted them to by enticing them with favors. In fact, it sickened him to think that representatives chosen by the citizens would stoop to such extremes to get what they wanted; that is, until he found himself doing it.

Congressman Bennett had blocked Jed's proposal on increasing the minimum wage out of spite. That was made crystal clear. It was a warning of sorts, a dirty shot taken by a man who had been so corrupted by the power entrusted in him that he relished bullying his freshman colleagues.

Jed felt his only recourse was to manipulate the balance and inch his way closer to others who had been burned by Bennett's strategy in the past. That night, he abandoned his idealistic standards and embraced a maneuver that had become all too popular in Washington.

By promising his vote for new highway improvement legislation, he secured the support of three representatives. A pledge to stand up in favor of an environmental amendment earned him another four. And it wasn't wrong, what he was doing. That's what he told himself. These were issues he could defend in good conscience, so as long as he didn't compromise his beliefs to get votes, his moral compass would still be intact, and his reputation would be spared. Or so he said.

"Congressman?"

Jed looked up to see Tip O'Neill standing before him. "Mr. Speaker. How are you?"

"Good, thank you. I hear you've been working the room tonight. Congressman Thompson says you're making some outstanding points regarding the minimum wage proposal rumbling through the halls."

"It's been sandbagged in committee."

"Bennett?" O'Neill knew Bennett all too well to think that anyone else was behind stonewalling a piece of legislation they all endorsed.

"Yeah. I'm trying to curry favor with some of the others."

"And you're not feeling too good about it, are you?"

Jed cast his eyes down. "I'm fine. It's how it works, right?"

"You're a principled man, Jed. I like that. The longer you're here, the easier it gets."

"The easier what gets?"

"The detours. You don't have to change who you are to get what you want."

"It sounds like that's exactly what everyone's expecting me to do."

The Speaker shook his head. "Don't get me wrong, there are times when you have to pick your battles. You may have to vote for something you don't much care about to get something back in return. You might have to sacrifice bills you want, vote for things you disagree with because in the long run, it's the best thing for everyone. You have to keep your eye on the big picture, look for the greater good."

"I'm trying."

"And sooner or later, it'll occur to you that there are many ways to work the system. On minimum wage, you don't have to go through Bennett."

"I don't?"

"In three weeks, the President is going to be doing his radio address on the prospering economy. I'd like you to handle the Democratic response."

"You're asking me to represent the party and publicly respond to the President?"

"I'm asking you to use those Nobel Prize-winning brains of yours to tell people the truth as an economist. This is your field. You're the expert. Here's your chance to reach a broader audience and convince them of the need for a minimum wage hike. Once you get a little more public support, Bennett won't have a leg to stand on."

For the first time since he got to Washington, Jed finally felt that he brought something to his role as a lawmaker. The fact that he was needed to make things happen instead of being told to stand idly by and watch the big boys work, ignited his fire and as soon as Speaker O'Neill left, he rushed to share the news with Abbey. Scanning the tables, he found her sitting, talking, and laughing with a man he had never seen before.

Intrigued, he wandered towards them. "Hey."

"Hi." Abbey rose to her feet. "This is Richard Harmon."

"Congresswoman Harmon's husband?" Jed shook the man's hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise," Richard replied. "Your wife's been keeping me company."

Jed took Abbey's arm, grinning lightheartedly. "If you don't mind, I'd like to have her back for a while. I promised her a dance and they're playing our song."

Abbey cocked her brow. "Twenty bucks says you can't even name the song."

"Are you challenging me?"

"That's exactly what I'm doing."

Richard held up his hand to interrupt. "Before this gets ugly, I think I better go. I'll see you guys later."

"Charming man," Jed scoffed while leading Abbey to the dance floor. "What are you laughing about?"

"You still get jealous."

"I do not get jealous."

"Of course you do. You get jealous and your ears do that thing they do."

"What thing?"

"They get red."

Jed touched his ear. "Okay, now you're just making things up."

"Hon, they do. It happens whenever you get jealous."

"Get over here." He grabbed her at the waist.

"Richard and I were just talking."

"I didn't say a word."

"Most of it was about you, about how much I love you."

"I'm still not saying a word."

"You're thinking it."

"You know what I'm thinking?"

"What?"

"That I am the luckiest man in the room because I have you by my side."

She stroked his back. "How'd it go tonight?"

"Better than I thought it would. I'll tell you all about it later. Right now, I want to concentrate on you."

"Now that's what I've been waiting to hear."

As they began to dance, the music changed. Jed pulled away slightly to say, "Dean Martin. And this is 'Sway.' Don't tell me I don't know the song."

"Shut up and dance with me."

'Sway' was one of Jed and Abbey's favorite selections. It was fun and cheerful, yet laced with an undercurrent of sexual innuendo that always seemed to encourage their most provocative steps on the dance floor. Tonight was no exception. They stared deep into each others eyes, flirting like teenagers as they prepared to glide to the music as if their bodies were made move to this song.

"By the way..." He twirled her around and pulled her in so her back was to his front.

"Yeah?" Abbey moved her hips in a smooth, controlled rhythm that spun her back around.

"Have I told you how gorgeous you look tonight?"

"Yes, you did, but I never tire of hearing it."

His right hand gripped hers tightly while his left fell to her waist. "That dress you had on earlier...the nude one that left virtually nothing to the imagination?"

"What about it?" Her heels clacked on the floor, her steps in harmony with his.

"You're not taking it back, are you?"

"I don't think so."

"Good." Jed meshed his body against hers until he closed the space between them.

"You're thinking dirty thoughts."

His eyes, brimming with unspeakable desire, locked into hers. "In your presence, I just can't help myself."

She dug her fingers into his back. "When can we leave the party?"

"Now. For God's sakes, let's go NOW!"

TBC

The song Sway is by Dean Martin. It's one of my favorites so if you want to check it out on Youtube, here it is: /watch?vYsgL35RCGcc


	26. Chapter 26

Series: Snapshots of the Past

Series: Snapshots of the Past

Story: Man of the House

Chapter 26

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Previously: Abbey was concerned about her appearance at her first congressional gala; Jed traded votes for support on minimum wage; Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill asked Jed to deliver the Democratic response to the President's radio address regarding the economy; Jed and Abbey left the gala after flirting on the dance floor

Summary: Things aren't back to normal yet for Jed and Abbey

AN: Thanks for the well wishes about the engagement!

Rating: NC-17

* * *

Jed and Abbey raced back to their apartment that night, hormones raging. Jed barely had the key out of the lock when Abbey pushed the door open and shoved him inside. He spun around, his back against the wall as he grabbed her and kissed her while she held on to him tight, allowing her hands to roam over his head, down the sides of his face, over his shoulders, and around his back. She clawed at his shirt until she popped the buttons and forced it off his body.

This was the kind of electricity that sparked between them even after 18 years together. It was easy when they were young and inexperienced. Every kiss generated a whirlwind of sensations that made them weak in the knees, paralyzing their nerves until they sought the relief only the other could offer. It was expected, anticipated.

But after nearly two decades, their sex life had matured with their love. They knew the other's body better than they knew their own, knew the spots that served as trigger zones, knew the positions that worked the best, knew the reaction they'd get from a squeeze, or a tickle, or a warm breath blown softly over the ear.

That kind of familiarity could have dulled their passion, but it didn't. It enlivened it because it allowed them to disrobe their most intimate needs. The trust they had between them encouraged them to let go, to be vulnerable with full confidence they'd always be safe in the other's arms.

Jed yanked the zipper on her dress as she kicked off her heels on the way to the bedroom. Her straps falling down her arms, Abbey laid back on the bed when her knees crashed against the mattress. She pulled Jed on top of her. He lifted himself slightly to help her shimmy her way out of her dress and pantyhose. He was ready to take her right then and there; she could feel it before she pushed his pants down over his hips to see proof of his swollen appendage. He unfastened the front clasp of her strapless black bra and slowed down after that.

"You're sure?" he asked.

Abbey nodded, then cupped the back of his neck to bring him in close. Jed kissed every inch of her upper body, from her forehead to her nose to her rosy red cheeks and sweet pouty lips, from her chin, down her neck as she arched herself into him, to her chest and the valley between her breasts. He was working his way down when he reached her stomach. He stopped suddenly then and looked at her.

He was so still for so long, she thought he was trying to memorize all her features. He stared into her eyes. Glowing with fiery flecks of gold in a sea of shimmering green, her eyes told of the desire growing inside her. She wanted him. And he wanted her. But his enthusiasm died suddenly and the furiously passionate strokes of his hand turned into tender, delicate ones against her thighs.

It had been weeks since they had last had intercourse. The Valentine's Day encounter in the kitchen and later, in the den beside the cozy fire after the snowstorm knocked the power out seemed like an eternity now. So much had happened since then - the miscarriage and surgery, talk of having another baby and eventually settling on the possibility of adoption.

They were the same people they had always been - Jed and Abbey Bartlet, a couple of lovers who would go to the ends of the earth for one another - but something was different. Jed was more aware of his actions now than he had ever been while making love.

He rested on top of her small frame, brushing the hair off her face. "I don't want to ruin the mood."

"That's okay. What is it?"

"It's been only two weeks. You told me a woman is more likely to get pregnant right after...um..."

"A miscarriage." Abbey finished it for him when he paused. "That's true."

She curled her lips and pulled herself up on her elbows to watch him reach across the bed for the drawer on the nightstand and pull out a condom. They hadn't used condoms in so long, she didn't even know he had a stash. He had planned for this though. He bought them in New Hampshire after she lost the baby and brought them with him to Washington without telling her for fear of pressuring her into sex before she was ready.

Jed put it on, then looked over and saw Abbey's somber expression. He softly pushed her onto her back and climbed on top of her once again, his hand covering her right cheek while his thumb ran along her delicate skin.

"Even if we were going to try for another baby," he started. "Your body needs time to heal, doesn't it?"

"Yeah."

He kissed her again and again. Her legs bent at the knees, she wrapped them around him, urging him to continue down her body. He hesitated, realizing she was more fragile right now, both emotionally and physically. His hand slipped between her legs, one finger circling around her center before it gently slipped inside.

Abbey arched her hips towards him. Jed responded by removing his finger and sliding himself into her, just the tip of his penis entering her feminine depths. She felt so good around him, squeezing his most sensitive nerves. He kept his eyes locked into hers as he went just a little bit further. He saw it then, the pain that provoked her heart-numbing gasp.

"Abbey?" He felt a twinge of pain himself as he pulled out.

"I thought I was fine," she cried, her eyes clenched momentarily.

"Did I hurt you? Are you still sore?"

"I guess I tightened up."

"You're not ready."

"I should be. There's no reason for me not to be. I'm sorry, Jed."

"Shhh." He placed a finger over her lips. "You never have to apologize for anything in bed. Never."

Abbey curled into him as he rolled to her side and draped his arm over her waist from behind. He nuzzled his face into her neck, whispering into her ear just to let her hear the sound of voice, hoping that it would soothe the tears that tracked down her cheeks.

This was the kind of intimacy Abbey needed right now and if he was going to be honest with himself, Jed would have to admit it was the kind of intimacy he needed as well.

* * *

"And here I was thinking you were going to stand me up!" Abbey's voice rang through the air at the National Mall just steps outside the Capitol the next day.

Jed had received her message at the office and rushed to meet her as soon as he could. He found her sitting on a large blanket out in the distance. The picnic basket she was holding in her lap clued him in to what this was all about.

He slipped out of his suit jacket as he joined her. "You didn't tell me we had plans for lunch."

"It wouldn't have been much of a surprise if I had." She was dressed for the occasion in her brown ankle boots, blue jeans, a light ivory sweater, and a brown suede jacket.

"You could have at least warned me to bring something appropriate to wear."

"You always look appropriate to me."

"I'm in a tie."

"You wear it damn well. Sit yourself down and have lunch with me."

"What have we got here?" He kneeled down to peek inside the basket. "Sandwiches."

"Pastrami on rye from that deli you like over in Lafayette Square."

He pulled out two small Tupperware bowls. "Grapes and apple slices."

"Dig deeper," she told him, grinning.

As a wide-eyed Jed retrieved a big square container, he flashed her a smile. "Is this what I think it is?"

"Mmm hmm."

He opened the top, taking a whiff of his favorite - Abbey's homemade chocolate chip cookies. "God, I love you."

She accepted a kiss, then shoved him all the way down until he was sitting on the blanket. "How much time do we have?"

"I have a meeting in forty-five minutes."

"Then let's make the most of it."

It was a gorgeous day in Washington, D.C. The start of spring was still a few weeks away, but it had been a fairly mild winter. The first of March brought an early thaw with comfortable temperatures in the 50s. It was sunny and breezy and though it was too early for cherry blossom season, the buds were starting to expand into their brilliant pink and white hues.

After their meal, Jed moved behind Abbey. He spread his legs around her so she could lean back between them and he could wrap his arms around her midsection. The sound of music and laughter echoed from the carousel in front of them and to their left, a group of college kids played frisbee.

"I wish we could do this every day," Abbey said, her attention devoted to the clouds moving slowly across the sky.

"So do I."

"Why don't we picnic anymore?"

"We do."

"No, we don't. We do the thing with the kids at the national parks, but I mean us. Why don't you and I picnic anymore the way we used to? Remember when we were dating? That first year, you came home from Notre Dame for the summer and we spent so many hours down by the lake getting to know each other. Remember?"

"You really think I'd forget?"

"We did it occasionally in London when Lizzie was little. We brought her out in her stroller and had lunch in the park. We don't do those things anymore."

"Our lives are too busy now."

"Yes, they are."

"Why are you so nostalgic today?" Jed released his grip so that she'd turn to face him. When she did, he asked, "What's going on?"

"Do you ever wonder how different our lives would be if we had ordinary careers?"

"What do you mean ordinary?"

"I mean careers that weren't so demanding of our time."

"Abbey, I know it's been a difficult road, but we planned this. All of it, sweetheart, we planned it. Granted, neither of us had any idea that I'd go into public service, although, when you think about it, I don't think it's that big a leap. When we got married, we had huge plans for our future. We wanted to make a difference in the world and we said there'd be no limit to what we could do if we had each other to go home to at the end of the day. You still feel that way, don't you?"

"I do."

"Then what are you getting at? Why does it feel like all of a sudden you're full of regret?"

"It's not regret. I don't regret my life with you or the kids for one minute. I don't regret being a doctor either. I just daydream sometimes. I think back on what it was like in high school or when I first started college, how many times I said to my friends that it's possible to have it all - family life, friends, rewarding career. I used to think it'd be easy, did you know that?"

Jed snickered. "Easy? What were you thinking?"

Abbey allowed a small laugh as well. "I was young and innocent."

"It's not easy, Abbey. That doesn't mean it's not possible. I think we do have it all. You're just not seeing right now because you're still - understandably - recovering from what happened."

"You won't say it."

"What?"

"Miscarriage. I had a miscarriage. You haven't said the word since that day. Why?"

"It's not a happy word."

"I'm not kidding."

"You're right. I haven't said it. I'm just not comfortable with it yet." He grabbed a hold of her shoulders. "But I'm always here whenever you need me, whenever you want to talk."

"I know."

"Why did you plan this picnic today?"

She was still sitting between his legs, her own legs now sprawled over his. "Because I wanted to spend time with you. And also, I felt bad about last night."

"Last night was my fault. I spoiled everything by bringing up the stupid condoms."

"No, you were right. Even if I wanted to get pregnant again, it would be too soon. I can't explain why I reacted the way I did."

He gently lifted her chin after she bowed her head. "You don't have to explain it. Whenever you want to, we'll try again. Slower this time."

"Slower than last night? That'll be a record."

"It ended slow, but we were pretty much on fire when it started. This time, I think I'll wine and dine you first and then we'll gradually make our way to the bedroom. You'll take the lead."

"Tell me more." Abbey arched a brow flirtatiously.

"More?"

"About what'll happen next."

"Well..." He leaned in to whisper, "First, you'll get me out of my clothes and then you'll push me onto the bed."

"What about my clothes?"

"Oh, Darling, you'll already be nude. I'll see to that." He gave her a wicked grin. "You'll crawl on top of me and I'll hold you tight against me for a while so I can feel your warmth, treasure the scent of your perfume and the wonderful smell of your hair. I'll run my fingers up your spine, my nails just barely touching your skin."

"And then what?"

"And then, my hands will wander down to that sexy rearend of yours. I'll pinch you gently and you'll immediately start kissing me. Your fingers will play with the hair on my chest and our legs will be tangled around each other. You'll lift yourself up so that you can straddle me. You'll bear down on me, ready to lower yourself onto me, knowing that what I want more than anything else is to be inside of you. I'll reach out to touch you...to rub that little spot between your legs and you'll throw your head back and arch your breasts forward, inviting me to feel them in my warm, firm hands." He had her right where he wanted her. He glanced at his watch and said, "Time's up. I've gotta go."

"Jed Bartlet!" Abbey smacked his shoulder.

"Did that turn you on, Sweet Knees?"

"You knew it would!"

"Yeah, I sure did. Don't think I don't know what you were up to by the way."

"What I was up to?"

"You asked me to tell you more because you were hoping to tempt me into forgetting that I have to go back to the office. I know how that scheming mind of yours works."

"Too bad that X-rated fantasy you came up had no affect on you."

"Who says it didn't?" He winked. "I'm going to need a cold shower at the Capitol gym. It's going to make me late to my meeting."

"Serves you right." She packed away her cookies, sealed them, and dumped them into the picnic basket.

Jed rose to his feet, holding out a hand to help her. "Walk me back, you little minx."

"Don't call me that in public," she warned, her emerald orbs dancing with playfulness.

"I think I will."

* * *

That evening, it was Abbey who was doing the wining and dining. Knowing that her husband didn't like to cook for himself when he was alone in Washington, she made them a delicious meal of steak Marsala for dinner. She deliberately made a lot so that there'd be an extra serving to tuck away in the freezer for Jed when she went back to New Hampshire.

They ate together at the glass dining table set up in a room adjacent to the kitchen, and when they were finished, they stayed there, sipping their wine and discussing their day while a mix of instrumental melodies played on the radio.

"There's a three-tier system," Jed told her. "Every proposal has to go through Anderson before it's introduced to Williams and then to Donnelly."

"Is that just the foreign affairs committee or all of them?"

"Foreign affairs. They keep us on a tight leash." He noticed the look of displeasure that crossed her face as she took a sip of wine. "What?"

Abbey shrugged. "Don't you get sick of it?"

"Sick of what?"

"The politics of politics? I never knew there were so many rules to legislating."

"It's a pain in the ass at times."

"At times? Jed, I haven't heard one good thing since you've been up here."

"Well, listen carefully because you're about to. Tip O'Neill asked me to deliver the Democratic response to the President's radio address on the economy."

Her eyes lit up. "When?"

"In three weeks."

"No, I mean when did he ask you?"

"Last night at the gala." He reached for her hand when she extended it across the table. "I was waiting for the perfect time to tell you."

"What will it do for minimum wage?"

"You won't believe it. Already, I've got a dozen more congressmen on-board."

"So soon?"

"I think the Speaker leaned on them a little. At the committee meeting next week, I'm going to reintroduce my proposal and Bennett's going to find himself without any supporters."

"This is the best news! I am so proud of you." He waved off her enthusiasm. "I mean it, Jed. You didn't compromise yourself like so many others when they get to Washington. You won this round by getting the Speaker in your corner. Job well done, Congressman."

He was too ashamed to tell her that he had, in fact, joined the political bartering system - lining up votes for his program by promising his vote in return. Instead, he changed the subject. "You look tired."

"I am tired. Why aren't you? You slept less than I did last night."

"I'm getting there. How about we leave the dishes till morning, call it an early night, and go cuddle up and read for a while?"

"I'll race you to the bedroom!"

* * *

As she turned down the covers, Abbey hummed the tune to Endless Love, the last song they heard playing on the radio before they retired to the bedroom. After fluffing her pillow, she released her hair from a high ponytail and turned her head upside down to brush out the tangles underneath.

"Babe, do me a favor?" Jed called from the bathroom where he was brushing his teeth.

"What's that?"

"Have my tux dry cleaned for next weekend when I come home?"

"What's next weekend?"

"I told you, I have that function in Nashua."

"You said it was a dinner." Abbey snapped her head up to shake her auburn locks.

"It is."

"Black tie?"

"It's a fundraiser."

"Fundraiser for what?"

"Just...you know, a fundraiser."

"Jed?" She waited until he reached the bedroom. "Fundraiser for what?" He stared at her as if it was common knowledge. "Already? You're raising money for your next campaign?"

"We've been doing it all along."

"When did you decide..."

"I haven't decided anything. The money's there in case I need it."

"Come on, Jed. I'm not naive. Why would you raise money unless you were considering running again?"

"Of course I'm considering running again, you knew that. But I haven't...WE haven't decided yet...you and I. We still have to talk about it."

"And in the meantime, you're raising money."

"Yes. Abbey, this is what I have to do. This is the process. Congressmen don't have the luxury of stepping back for a while the way senators do. We're elected every two years, which means a never-ending fundraising cycle. In order to get elected in '86, I have to start raising money in '85. That's just how it's done."

"You hated fundraising last time."

"I still do."

"You've been doing it all along and this is the first I'm hearing of it. Somehow, I think you got over your hatred."

"This is the first you're hearing of it because this is the first event. Up until now, we had interns and volunteers making phone calls, sending out donor letters, that kind of thing." Jed walked over to his side of the bed, a briefing book in his hand. "Why is this such a shock to you?"

"It just seems like you're ready to make a decision that I don't think we should make yet." Abbey climbed up on the mattress and slipped her legs under the sheets.

"Why shouldn't we make it?"

"What?"

"Why don't you think we're ready to discuss it?"

"How can you ask me that? With everything that's happened the last few weeks..."

Jed nodded. "You're right. We should wait." He watched as she snuggled under the covers. "Aren't you going to read?"

"I'm tired," she said, turning her back.

"Abbey..."

"I'm not angry, Jed. I just want to sleep."

"I don't believe you." He leaned over her shoulder. "Talk to me."

She sat up. "I feel like an idiot sometimes. I don't know the first thing about politics. It seems like all you're doing lately is teaching me the ins and outs of it all. I feel completely lost, like I can't share this with you because everything that comes up is a surprise to me."

"That's how it is for me too. There's a learning curve. It's no greater or smaller for us than it is - or was - for anyone else in Washington."

"You're adjusting better than I am."

"I live it every day."

"And you like it, don't you?"

"What kind of question is that?"

"I've been with you two days and already, you've made a complete 180."

He shook his head and relaxed against his pillow. "That's not true."

"It is, Jed. Last week, you couldn't face the possibility of coming back here again. That's why I came with you. And tonight, just hearing you talk about your day made me see you're no longer dreading it. You're like a completely different person than the man who sat with me on the porch on Friday and bitched about the power plays in Washington."

"Isn't that a good thing? I was elected for two years. Wouldn't you like to see me embracing my role rather than rejecting it and being miserable for the next 22 months?"

"You know I would. That isn't what I meant."

"Then what has you so upset?"

Abbey thought about her response, about how easy it would be to tell him that she didn't want him to run again. She couldn't do that though. Not tonight, not when he was finally feeling so enthusiastic about his job.

She took a breath and replied, "I'm going to bed."

With no more to say on the topic, Jed opened his briefing book, his eyes glazing over the words on the pages. It had been such a good day until that moment. He wanted to ask her what happened, to pressure her into telling him what it was that rattled her so badly. But he didn't. He thought it best to let it go until she was ready to open up. So he laid there, trying to ignore the way she violently fluffed her pillow. It was only when her repeated bouncing and rolling in an effort to find a comfortable position caused him to shift closer to the edge of the bed that he said something.

"Well, clearly, I'm going to get hurt if I stay here." He sat up to slide his feet into his slippers.

"Where are you going?"

"I can't read in bed."

"You never seem to have trouble at the farm."

"We're not at the farm."

Abbey waited several minutes for him to return. When he didn't, she threw off the covers, grabbed the robe she had tossed to the foot of the bed, and went after him. Jed was sitting on the end of the sofa, reading. Or so she thought. He hadn't turned the page since he left the bedroom. He just sat there, hoping that she'd come after him and be ready to explain why he felt the sting of her cold shoulder.

She stood silently in front of him when she made her entrance. He glanced up from his book, then set it aside as an invitation for her to start the conversation.

"I miss you," she said. "The girls miss you. We all miss you. Believe me when I say that has nothing to do with why I don't want you to run again."

Her candor surprised him. "So now you're coming right out and saying it? Before, you acted like we had to come to some sort of decision together. Now you're telling me you've already made up your mind, the same thing you accused me of doing."

"Give me a chance to get this out." Her eyes pleaded with him to sit back and listen. "I know you've had a good couple of days, but that doesn't take back the first two months. I see what this is doing to you, Jed. Even when I'm not here, I hear it on the phone. There are times when you hate it."

"And there are times when I don't. Look, I'm not saying it hasn't been rough, but you're talking like you want me to resign."

"I would never ask you to do that."

Jed's arms were folded over his chest. He dropped them and in a lower voice, he said, "What you said before about not having to compromise myself to get what I want? I should tell you that isn't entirely true."

"What do you mean?" Abbey was alarmed by the possibilities.

"I did nothing wrong. I just worked the system. I bartered votes for support on minimum wage. They were issues I would have supported anyway so it isn't like I've gone over to the dark side. I haven't broken my oath to my district or to myself."

"Then why so defensive?"

"I could do without the judgment, Abbey."

"I'm not judging you. I don't think you did anything wrong. But the fact that you kept it from me tells me that you're not so sure; and that brings me back to my original point."

"Which was?"

"You don't belong here. The corruption that goes on in DC...it's driving you crazy."

"Which is exactly why I need to be here. Don't you see that?"

"You could get a lot done in the State House. Hell, Jed, you chaired four committees at the State House. When you said something, it happened. You didn't have to..."

"Things were just as bad at the State House. At least, at first. I went through the same shenanigans there. Don't you remember the night I crashed the car into the garage door?"

Abbey chuckled at the memory. "How could I forget that?"

"I have to believe it'll get better in Washington. I can't give up, not yet." An awkward moment of silence passed between them until Jed spoke up again. "I understand you're worried."

"I'm worried about you, about the toll this is taking on you."

"And on our marriage?"

"Our marriage will survive. I'm not being selfish, Jed. I really am thinking of you."

"Then let me sort it all out in my mind. We already know what you want. Let me decide what I want and then we'll talk about it and we'll make the final decision together like we planned."

"If you think you haven't decided what you want, you're fooling yourself. You have."

"I'm playing devil's advocate tonight."

"No, you're not." Abbey moved to sit down on the coffee table in front of him. "You want to run again. It's obvious to me."

"Then you know me better than I know myself."

"That was established long ago." She took his reading glasses off his face so she could stare deep into his eyes. "There are so many reasons not to run again."

"Yeah." There was no denying it.

"So why do you want to?"

Jed couldn't answer that question. But he couldn't fight it either. For reasons even he had yet to understand, Abbey was right. "I really don't know."

TBC


	27. Chapter 27

Series: Snapshots of the Past

Series: Snapshots of the Past

Story: Man of the House

Chapter 27

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Previously: Jed and Abbey ran into a problem when they tried to be intimate; Abbey questioned Jed about running for a second term

Summary: It's Abbey's birthday and Jed has a few surprises up his sleeve!

Rated R (as a precaution) for some racy language

* * *

"It's your turn, Grandpa."

"Give me one second."

"One."

Zoey sat at the kitchen table, fidgeting impatiently as she stared at James while he studied the board and plotted his next move. He openly ignored her perpetual sighs, though he chuckled once in a while at how much his young granddaughter reminded him of another special young lady in his life - his sweet Abigail.

Looking at Zoey now, he realized just how much she mirrored the memories he had of Abbey when she was that age - from her wispy pigtails to her big green eyes to the way she'd lean into the table with her elbows right up to the edge of the game board and watch him like a hawk in hopes of rushing him along. She was her mother's daughter in every sense of the word.

The feistiness that always flashed in Abbey's eyes whenever they sat down to play a game now twinkled in Zoey's. James got a glimpse of it as he looked up to see a crooked grin against the anxious fingers that tapped at her cheek. She raised both brows at him, expectantly.

"I think I'm going to need a little more time," he said.

It was a test to see if she'd react the way Abbey used to. Unknowingly, Zoey did.

"But time's up!"

"There's no time limit on Checkers."

"Uh huh! It's in the rules!"

That little fib registered just as Ellie walked in to chastise her sister. "Zoey, it's not nice to lie to people. Is she rushing you, Grandpa?"

"Nah, I like the way Zoey plays. She's spirited." That brought a smile to Zoey's face, leaving James to turn to address Ellie again. "How'd you sleep?"

"I would have slept better if you and Grandma had let me stay up to watch the Tiffany concert last night."

Over at the stove, Mary scoffed, "You had about as much chance of that as you did of asking for maple sugar candy for breakfast."

Ellie started on her way to the stove to help her grandmother with breakfast. "I thought grandparents were supposed to spoil their grandkids."

"Boy, someone led you astray." Mary handed the ten-year-old a bowl. "Wanna help me with a batch of walnut muffins?"

At the table, Zoey badgered James. "Grandpa!"

"I'm trying to figure it out."

"It doesn't matter, you're going to lose," Ellie warned him from across the kitchen. "Zoey stole two of your checkers. She's hiding them behind her back."

Zoey climbed up on her knees. "ELLIE! You weren't s'posed to tell!"

James shook his head at his deceitful granddaughter. "I can't believe you swindled me."

Her face beaming with childhood innocence, Zoey asked, "What's that mean?"

"It means you cheated him," Liz answered as she made her first appearance that morning. "Good morning."

"Morning, Lizabelle. I assume we're out of hot water?"

Mary chided her husband, "Leave her alone, James. If you had gotten up when I woke you, you would have beaten her to the shower. Jed warned you about Lizzie in the morning."

Liz approached her grandmother at the stove. "Dad's always cranky in the morning cause he likes to sleep in. You can't really expect to have a hot shower when you're the last one up in a house full of females, can you?"

"Apparently not," James muttered. "The poor man's as outnumbered as I was when Abbey and Katie were little."

Liz scanned the ingredients Mary had left on the counter. "Mmm, walnut muffins? We only get those on special occasions."

"It is a special occasion. How often do I get to cook for my girls?"

"We're not your girls!" Zoey corrected in a playful tone as she slouched in her chair, swinging her feet in front of her. "We're Mommy's girls!"

"Well then, by definition, you're my girls too." Mary punctuated that statement by dabbing at Zoey's forehead with her finger. "And speaking of your mother, it's almost time."

Ellie rushed to the phone hanging on the wall. "I get the phone in here!"

Walking over to Zoey, Liz offered a proposal. "Rock, paper, scissors?"

"Okay."

"Ready?"

"Ready." Zoey prepared for the game the way her sisters had taught her.

"On three," Liz told her. "One, two...three!"

A unhappy Zoey instantly realized her rock wouldn't win against Liz's paper. "Do over."

"No way. No do-overs. You have to go upstairs."

"Come on! One do-over."

"Forget it."

"Fine then I won't go." Stubbornly, the five-year-old leaned back in her seat and folded her arms over her chest.

"Well, you're not getting the phone down here."

"Yes, I am." Zoey smiled, thinking her adorable expression would melt Lizzie's heart and force her to surrender the high ground.

She was wrong.

"No, you're not

"Uuuuhhh huuuuhhh."

"Not if I get there first!" Elizabeth dashed towards the phone in the living room.

Zoey scrambled to her feet and chased her. "That's not fair, Lizzie! I'm LITTLE!"

* * *

Embrace me, my sweet embraceable you

Embrace me, you irreplaceable you

Jed sang that classic tune as he danced around the kitchen, a joyful strut in his step and a spatula in his hand. He bounced from corner to corner and didn't even hear the delicate footsteps behind him or the shuffling of Abbey's slippers against the kitchen tile as she snuck in and watched.

This wasn't the same Jed she went to bed with the night before. That Jed was stressed and exhausted. He had drifted off to sleep with the weight of a thousand questions on his shoulders - thoughts of reelection, of starting a brand new campaign, of prolonging the physical separation between him and his family. But this Jed was different. He was happy and energized.

From the way he lined up all his props - a breakfast tray of his special strawberry pancakes, topped with vanilla and a colorful fruit salad on the side, a glass of juice, and a single red rose - she guessed he was going to surprise her with breakfast in bed. She debated sneaking back into the bedroom before she spoiled his plan, but she couldn't help herself. She wanted so badly to touch him as she walked up behind him and placed both hands against the counter on either side of him, blocking his escape.

"You know what's even sexier than you dancing around the kitchen?"

Jed quickly recovered from the shock of her intrusion to ask, "What's that?"

"Doing it with that silly apron tied around your waist."

"Ah, so it's the apron discussion again."

"Mmm hmm." Abbey wrapped her arms around his midsection and placed a kiss on the back of his shoulder. "It's either that or your singing."

"What's wrong with my singing?"

"You forgot the words."

He wiggled from her hold to turn around to face her. "No, I didn't."

"You slowed down on that last little bit there."

"I took a breath at that last little bit there. 'Just one look at you my heart grew tipsy in me

You and you alone bring out the gypsy in me.' Don't tell me I don't know my Gershwin."

Amused, Abbey swept a strand of hair back over his head. "I don't know. I think I need more proof. Give me a verse of Summertime."

"I'll give you anything your little heart desires...later. Right now, there's something much more important I have to do." He pulled the rose out of its narrow vase and handed it to her. "Happy Birthday."

"You were trying to surprise me."

"Yeah, I was. And unless you want all my efforts to go to waste, go back to bed and pretend you weren't expecting me when I walk in."

"Don't be long?"

"I won't."

She began to leave, but then turned around to ask him, "Will you eat with me?"

"I was planning on it."

"It won't make you late for work?"

"You think I'm going to work today?"

"I figured we'd celebrate tonight."

"Not on your life. It's your birthday. We're gonna do it right. For the next few days, no politics, no talk about life-altering decisions, no poignant nostalgia, nothing but mindless drivel..."

"Days? Jed, I have to go back home tonight."

"No, you don't. Your mom changed the airline ticket."

"You asked her to do that? You should have told me. I have to go to work.."

"Lizzie called Dr. Nolan. It's covered." He gave her a sly grin and added, "We're leaving the city for a few days. Just us. Alone."

"Yeah?" She caught that flirtatious tone of his. "Where are we going?"

"All in good time, my dear."

"You know I hate surprises."

"You love surprises. You just hate when I know something you don't."

"So if you know this about me, why do you continue to torture me?"

"It's part of the fun. Now, are you going to get into bed or are you going to insist on ruining my whole act here?"

"Okay, okay." She dragged her feet on her way out of the kitchen. "Hurry it up, will you? I'm getting hungry."

"You're not hungry," he called after her. "You just want to know where we're going!"

"You can't hold that against me." Abbey turned the corner into the bedroom.

"Wanna bet?"

As Jed continued humming his tune and finishing his breakfast preparations, the ringing of the phone caught his attention. He glanced at the clock and knew instantly it had to be the girls. He picked up the receiver quietly to hear Abbey answer on the extension.

"Hello?"

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM!"

* * *

"Arizona. Take it."

"The very highest peak of the Grand Canyon. It's night and the sky is glowing with a billion stars."

"BOOOORRRRIIIIIINNNNGGGG." Abbey snickered.

"It's romantic."

"I didn't say it wasn't romantic. It's just not terribly original."

"Do you have something better?"

"As a matter of fact, I do."

"Let's hear it."

She adjusted her voice to bring out her most sultry tone. "A naked stretch of road along Route 66 just outside of Flagstaff. We get out of the car around mid-afternoon and with the desert sun beating down on our nude bodies, we do it right there on a patch of grass just off the pavement."

Jed conceded that one in a hurry. "Okay, you win."

The license plate game was a staple of Bartlet family roadtrips. Every summer on the way to their annual camping trip at one of the national parks, Jed challenged Lizzie, Ellie, and Zoey to watch for license plates and to shout out the state capitol or an interesting fact about that state that the rest of the family didn't know.

When it was just him and Abbey, the game wasn't quite so innocent. They drove along Interstate 81 that crisp March day watching for license plates as usual. But this time, instead of focusing on facts or capitols, they shared torrid fantasies of all the daring places they'd have sex if they ever travelled cross-country without the kids.

"Maryland." Abbey prodded Jed as a Maryland driver cut in front of them.

"Hmm." Jed pondered the thought a moment. "On the shores of Chesapeake Bay."

"With a gentle breeze whistling through the trees? Jed, get your mind in the gutter already!" She teased him about it, but the truth was, she treasured his romantic side.

There was a part of Jed that wanted to make love to her so badly sometimes that he'd take her on the kitchen table or on the desk in his study. He'd thrust inside her so fiercely that he'd take her breath away before she ever reached orgasm. But even when he ravaged her senses that way, he was always considerate of her needs, always gentle and tender - before and after. That's who he was. And the fact that he had such a tough time fantasizing about smutty sex without turning it into a romantic interlude only reminded her of that.

"All right, you take Maryland," he told her.

"The ferris wheel right off the boardwalk in Ocean City. I'll sit on your lap, facing you. You won't know until I do that I'm not wearing any underwear under my skirt. As the wheel starts to turn and we hit the very top, I'll unzip your pants, brace my hands on your shoulders, and lower myself down, taking you fully inside me. We'll rock back and forth over and over again and while the wheel continues to turn, we'll be racing towards a powerful climax that's intensified by the lights shining down on us and the cheering crowd below us who will see us every time we hit the bottom and wonder if it's a malfunction of the wheel that's causing our car to rattle and sway so forecefully on its axis."

The image of all that rendered Jed speechless for several seconds. He finally caught his breath and mumbled, "Damn, Abbey."

"What's the matter?" As if she couldn't tell by the look on his face what that fantasy had done to him.

"I'm thinking about turning this car around and heading to Ocean City."

Abbey laughed. "If you want to pull over, we can hop into the backseat and I'll take care of you right now."

"I'm begging you to stop."

She laughed a little more. "Where's your sense of adventure?"

"Why didn't you pull this traffic seduction act of yours last year? You had to wait until now, when the interstate's crawling with cops who will forever label me as Congressman Happy Pants?"

"I can think of worse titles."

"And why is it that you're so calm, cool, and collected while I'm wiggling around in my seat?"

"It's a suggestive game and it's common knowledge that it's harder for men - no pun intended - to keep their hormones in-check than it is for women."

"That's an old wives tale."

"It happens to be true."

Jed purposely swerved out of his lane and into another so that he'd end up behind an Idaho license plate. "Idaho. You're on."

"Let's see." Abbey thought about that one. "We already did the hot springs during our trip to Yellowstone a few years ago. Where else could we go in Idaho?"

"Is that a forfeit?"

"Okay, I forfeit."

"Let's say we're white-water rafting down the Salmon River in Sun Valley. It's a gorgeous day and water is splashing all around us. Your hair's wet and under your rafting clothes and life jacket, you're wearing that cinnamon red bikini that you know drives me out of my mind. We get to a place where there's a lull in the river. I realize I just can't help myself. So I grab the paddle out of your hands and throw it into the water. I ease you onto your back and undress you from the waist down. Gripping the sides of your soaking wet bikini that's now clinging to your body, I pull it down over your hips and toss it aside. I spread your legs and cover your most private parts with my body. You claw violently at my back as I make wild and passionate love to you right there while our guide steers us over the next set of waves."

"And what if our guide turns around and sees us?"

Jed winked. "That's the chance we take."

Abbey lowered the window to cool herself off. She fanned herself as she let out a deep breath. "Aren't we there yet?"

"Not quite." Jed gestured to the plate on the car that was now in front of them. "Since we have the time, listen carefully to what I plan to do to you in Ohio."

* * *

Up high in the Pocono Mountains, Jed drove the car towards a rustic beige cottage at the very end of a winding road blanketed with mud and the slightest remnants of snow. There were no people around. No other cottages either. No roads, besides the one they were on. It was seemingly deserted, the cozy streamside bungalow that sat under the bare branches of a forest of trees.

Abbey opened her car door to hear the sounds of nature buzzing around her. "How did you find this place?"

"Congressman Johnston brought his wife here for their anniversary. The way he talked about it, I knew it'd be perfect for us."

"It is. I love it!"

"You haven't even seen the inside."

"It doesn't matter. The outside is enough to win me over."

It had a wrap-around deck with Adirondack chairs, a large wood table, and a barbeque grill in the back. Out front, a private bridge led Jed and Abbey over the rushing water of the stream below as they hiked up the creaky steps to the door.

Jed took her bags out of her hand and ushered her inside. "After you."

Abbey wandered in with the wonderment of a child as she headed to the spiral staircase in the corner of the room and stared up at the second-story loft. "Is that our bedroom?"

"Yes, it is. And you know what else? We've got a Jacuzzi."

"I get the feeling you're more excited about that than anything else."

"I'm excited about all of it. And why wouldn't I be? I'm at this gorgeous cottage in the Poconos with my gorgeous wife and no one else around for miles."

"Is it really that secluded around here?"

"That's how we wanted it, right? Just you and me? No work, no kids, nothing but us for the next few days."

"Yeah, that's how we wanted it. And you were right. It is perfect."

"Not quite yet it's not."

"What do you mean?"

"Go explore upstairs. I'll be right back."

"Jed?"

"Give me just a minute. I promise, it'll be worth the wait."

"Make it quick. I hate surprises."

Abbey climbed the stairs with anticipation. As she expected, there was a corner Jacuzzi in the master bedroom. There was also a large wood burning fireplace, just like the one downstairs, and a balcony overlooking the woods and the ribbon of water that snaked through it. She opened the sliding glass door to let in some fresh air, but was called away by the sound of Jed's voice.

"Oh Abigail?"

"We have three bedrooms..." She started down the spiral staircase, catching herself when she saw Jed holding a cake with ten flaming candles. "Jed Bartlet, what did you do?"

"A little birdie told me it's an important day today."

"How did you ever..."

"I have my ways." He set the cake on the table, then took her hand to help her down the last step. He kissed her tenderly on the lips when she landed. "Happy Birthday, love."

TBC


	28. Chapter 28

Series: Snapshots of the Past

Series: Snapshots of the Past

Story: Man of the House

Chapter 28

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Previously: Jed surprised Abbey with a cozy cottage in the Poconos for her birthday; during a night of intimacy, Abbey, caught up by the emotions of the miscarriage, was unable to continue (chapter 26)

Summary: Jed and Abbey enjoy their time in the Poconos and later, reconnect on a more intimate level

Rating: NC-17

* * *

In the higher elevations of the Pocono Mountains, skiers enjoyed the last few weeks of ski season. Down below at the foothills, it was horseback riding and ice fishing that drew crowds of vacationers. But on Crescent Hill Drive, a dirt road off the most secluded trail of the mountains, it was quiet and peaceful. This was where Jed and Abbey were staying, at an old beige cottage on a deserted piece of land where people and traffic were nonexistent and only the humming sounds of nature disturbed them.

"Abbey, are you ready, hon?"

"Almost. Give me another minute and I'll be down."

Jed whistled softly as he packed some goodies into his backpack before zipping it up and tossing it onto the sofa so he could peer out the front door to see the red and orange glow that streaked the sky as the sun slowly began to rise over the snowcapped peaks of the mountains.

"Abbey, hurry up! You've gotta see this!"

"I'm coming," she replied as she descended the spiral staircase from the loft and headed to the door.

"Come here." He pulled her under his arm. "Look at that. I can't remember the last time I saw such a beautiful sunrise. It's even more breathtaking than the ones we see at the farm."

"It really is gorgeous." She took an exhilarating breath of fresh air and closed her eyes to commit the scene to memory - the sound of the wind rippling through the trees, of the stream rushing through the forest, and the birds chirping their morning song while a cool draft penetrated her skin as the sun broke the horizon.

"Wouldn't it be great if we could do this every morning?"

"Watch the sun rise?"

"Yeah. We're so busy nowadays, I've forgotten how exciting the little things can be."

"I have too."

He squeezed his arm around her waist. "Ready to go?"

"Ready."

Both dressed in blue jeans, boots, and sweatshirts - hers a crimson Harvard and his a gray Notre Dame - they slipped into their jackets and grabbed their backpacks. Abbey followed Jed down the steps of the deck and over the bridge above the stream.

The cottage was their own private sanctuary. It sat on a winding mountain road that most tourists - and even some residents - didn't know existed. That's why Jed had chosen it. It was perfect for Abbey, he thought. She was a nature girl at heart who loved the outdoors every bit as much as he did. At times, maybe even a little more.

Nearly twenty years earlier, when they planned their honeymoon on a tight budget to save as much money as possible for their move to London days after their wedding, it was Abbey who suggested going camping. Jed scoffed at the idea at first, thinking that Abbey was settling for convenience over her fantasy honeymoon, but she convinced him that camping with him was more appealing to her than ritzy hotels and a string of expensive restaurants.

And so, despite their parents' conspiracy to send them on a traditional honeymoon, they bucked tradition and packed their bags for one night in a hotel suite and the next three in Appalachian National Park. From there, they boarded a plane to London, promising each other an extended honeymoon as soon as time and finances would allow. But the truth was, a week in Italy or France could have never compared to the unconventional romance of hiking the Appalachian Trail together without any distractions from the outside world. They had woken up early every morning and stayed up late every night, inseparable the entire time. They joked it was like they were stranded on a deserted island with only each other to keep them company and they wondered if they would ever run out of things to talk about. They never did.

During their second weekend in London when Abbey was homesick, Jed recreated that feeling of careless harmony by whisking her off to the English countryside where they spent their days taking advantage of the great outdoors and their evenings curled up in front of a fire under the stars, just like they had on their honeymoon. Everything else in England might have been different, he told her, but camping was camping no matter where you were.

That was the start of the annual Bartlet family camping trips. They missed a couple of summers in England when Lizzie was little, but every August since they moved back to the United States, they toured the national parks and camped the old-fashioned way, in a tent they pitched themselves. One year, the girls had tried to talk them into renting a cabin, but Abbey rejected the idea, claiming a cabin would shelter them from the rugged beauty of nature which, after all, was the point of camping in the first place.

If it hadn't been so cold in the Poconos in March of 1985, Jed would have followed her line of reasoning and packed their usual tent and a couple of sleeping bags, but with temperatures below freezing at night, he knew it wouldn't be much fun for her. So instead, he rented the cottage, ensuring cozy nights indoors to warm themselves up after spending their days exploring the natural landscape of the vast and weathered forest.

"Jed?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you have any idea where we're going?" Riding horseback behind him, Abbey lifted her hand to shade her forehead from the bright glare of the sun in hopes of catching a glimpse of where they were headed.

"Of course I do."

"Where?"

"Some place that we can only get to by horseback."

"I got that impression when we crossed the river back there. I want more."

"That's all you're getting."

"Not everything has to be a surprise, you know."

"If you took a minute to actually enjoy the spontaneity of it all, you'd realize that surprises are good. I notice you have no trouble surprising me or the kids for birthdays and holidays."

"That's different. It's fun being on the other end."

As they crested the hill at the top of the trail, Jed tugged gently on the reins to stop his horse. "Abbey, look."

She followed his lead, stopping beside him. "Oh, Jed."

He had done it. He had taken her to a site so extraordinary that it took her breath away. Abbey leaned forward on her saddle and gazed out through the bare timber at the series of raging waterfalls that plunged over the rocky cliffs across from them and pooled into the river down below. To her right, a long and narrow suspension bridge, dampened by the cool mist of the water, paved the way to an open field with a shelter overlooking the falls.

"Let's go to the other side." He nudged his horse with his heel to lead them over the bridge.

"Jed Bartlet, have you been holding out on me?"

"In what way?"

Abbey prompted her own horse to follow. "You've been here before."

"What makes you say that?"

"How would you know about this spot? I mean, this very spot? And don't tell me that Congressman Johnston drew you a map."

Once again, he pulled on the reins to stop. "You wanna know the truth?"

"Always." She caught up to him.

"I haven't been here before. One of the state park bills in the House referenced this place, complete with pictures of the falls."

"They wanted to destroy it?"

"More like they wanted to revitalize it. And as soon as I cast my vote in favor, I did some research to find out exactly where it was. That's when Johnston told me about the cottage."

"So you planned this whole thing around the falls?"

"Not just the falls. The general area. I knew you'd love it."

"You've been planning this for a while." Her eyes brimming with warmth, she smiled at him.

"I wanted this birthday to be special. More special than the others."

"Being with you is the special part. Everything else is icing on the cake."

He gestured towards the field. "Come on. Let's get off this damn bridge. You know how I feel about heights."

Abbey chuckled her agreement as they crossed the bridge. When they reached the field, Jed climbed down off his horse and draped the reins over a rail. Abbey did the same while suspiciously spying on her husband as he wandered over to a small wooden picnic table and unzipped his backpack, pulling out a couple of aluminum-wrapped sandwiches, two containers of fruit salad, and two juice boxes.

"Breakfast?" she asked, sitting down on the bench across from him.

"You're the one who said we don't picnic anymore. If the ground wasn't still saturated, I would have brought a blanket."

"I don't need a blanket." Abbey took a sandwich. "What did you make?"

"Feta cheese sandwiches tucked into those pita pockets you like so much."

She pinched the bread to look inside. "Cucumbers and everything. You've come around."

"I'm trying," he said. "It's an acquired taste."

"Where did you get all this? I didn't see you buying cheese when we went into town for groceries last night."

"That's because you weren't paying attention. You were looking at those silly magazines."

"Those magazines were interesting."

"They're like all the others, littered with old wives tales and quizzes and tips about making marriage work."

"And what's wrong with that?"

"It's nonsense."

"For your information, one of those magazines had a little something you might be interested in."

"Doubtful."

"Tips for spicing up your sex life after 40. That wouldn't have caught your eye?"

"Neither one of us is 40."

"Almost."

"Almost doesn't count. And do you really think we need to spice up our sex life? I think we're all right in that department."

"Even after the other night?" She took a sip of her juice as she cautiously approached the subject of their last intimate encounter.

"There were extenuating circumstances."

"Quit being such a gentleman for once! It's okay to admit it was awful. I know how hard it was for you to stop when you did."

"How did you do it?"

"What?"

"How did you dupe me into having this conversation? We had a rule about this trip and you're breaking it, pretty brazenly I might add."

Abbey agreed. "You're right. No more sex talk."

"Well, I didn't say that." He grinned. "What kind of tips?"

"Tips?"

"You know, how to spice up your sex life?"

She narrowed her eyes. "I thought you said those magazines were silly."

"They are silly, but that doesn't mean they can't be helpful...occasionally."

"Sorry, bub. The tips they gave are only for women over forty and as you pointed out, I don't fall into that category just yet."

"Anything that works on a 40-year-old is bound to work on a 39-year-old."

"Faulty logic." She shook her head. "A 39-year-old's body doesn't respond to stimuli the way a 40-year-old's would. It has to do with nerve conduction."

"Nerve conduction, huh?"

"That's right."

"I'm disappointed in you, Doc. A Harvard M-D and that's the best lie you can give me? That doesn't even qualify as a fourth-grade fib."

He abandoned his seat to join her on hers. Straddling the bench, he sat facing her.

"It had to be elementary enough or else you might have bought it."

He twisted his finger around one of her auburn locks. "Say, how many gray hairs did you find this morning?"

Abbey smacked his hand. "Jackass."

Laughing, he grabbed her by the belt loops and pulled her towards him, "You know you're more beautiful now than you were 20 years ago."

"You're trying to save yourself now."

"I mean it. You thought you were all grown back then, didn't you?"

"When you met me?"

"Yeah. I thought I was too."

"Who doesn't think they're all grown up when they're in college?"

"If we only knew. We were just kids when we met. I look back on it and I can't believe that you were a few years older than Lizzie is now. You were just a girl."

"What are you getting at?"

"In preparing for your birthday, I've been giving this a lot of thought."

"What?"

"Us. Our marriage and how it's evolved over the years. It's because of how I feel about you. I knew you were special from the very first night I laid eyes on you, but I had no idea that night what an incredible woman you were. And I'm not just talking about your uber sexiness either."

"Did you just say 'uber'?"

"I did."

"Go on."

"I started to see more of you - of who you were - when we were dating and it became really clear just how incredible a lady I had fallen for before I asked you to marry me. But you see, I never would have thought that all these years later, I could still look at you and continue to be constantly impressed by you. I'm in awe of you, Abbey."

"Jed..." Her heart started to swell at that.

"I'm serious. It's like you've mesmerized me. I'm in complete and utter awe of your beauty, your intellect, your spirituality, your knowledge and talent as a surgeon..." He took her hand and brushed it against his cheek. "The boundless capacity of your unconditional love as a wife and mother. There's nothing that I don't love about you."

"God, Jed, you're going to make me cry!" She swiped the tears that stung her eyes.

"Looks like it's too late." Jed dabbed her delicate skin with his fingers. "I wanted you to know how much I love you. I mean, I know you know it. But I wanted to say it because I don't think I say it enough."

"You say you love me all the time."

"Do I tell you how madly in love with you I am though? Because I don't just love you. I am head-over-heels fiercely IN love with you. You're the most amazing woman I've ever met, Abigail Ann. You mean the world to me. And I just thought you should know that." He reached into his backpack to pull out a black velvet box.

"What are you doing?"

"It's your gift. I didn't give it to you last night because I wanted to wait until I brought you here, to the falls."

"I thought this trip was my birthday present."

"It was part of it. This is the other part."

Abbey opened the box with a gasp. Inside lay an elegant silver necklace coiled around an oval bed of black velvet. The heart-shaped pendant, made of clear glass and dotted with a single diamond, held two birthstones - one was hers and the other was Jed's.

She glanced at him then, her emotions unraveling before his eyes. He had once given her a similar pendant for Christmas the year Zoey was born. It had the birthstones of all three girls intertwined in a sterling silver base. It was a special gift and she cherished it with all her heart, but this one was special in a different way because it represented the bond that started their family, the strongest bond in her life - the bond with her husband.

"It's beautiful."

"I wanted something that was just us, something that would always remind you..."

She grabbed the back of his neck and forced him into a kiss before he could say another word. Jed relaxed against her as one kiss melted into the next and Abbey leaned back on the bench, holding him on top of her.

* * *

"You're lying."

"I wouldn't dare."

"I don't believe you."

"I swear it." Jed held up his right hand in a solemn oath to protest Abbey's doubts.

"Love darts?"

"Love darts. Shall I continue?"

They had returned from the falls and were just steps from their cottage, strolling arm-in-arm along the jagged shore of the stream that cut through the thick timber when Jed shared the mating habits of garden snails to a skeptical Abbey. They used love darts, he had told her. She shook her head in disbelief.

"Go ahead, continue."

"They start out with a courting ritual, what we would call foreplay, lasting anywhere from 15 minutes to six hours. They circle each other, touch with their tentacles, and eventually, they start sucking on the lips and genitals."

"Fifteen minutes of foreplay," Abbey sneered. "Those must be the males."

"Excuse me, is this you talking? I can't remember the last time you engaged me in more than a half hour of foreplay before ripping my clothes off and seducing me."

"You've always had a tenuous relationship with time."

"Anyway, both snails have these darts stored in a chamber behind their eyes. When the first snail touches the other, the second snail starts to make a hissing sound, then ejects the dart and in doing so, becomes passive while the first snail continues the foreplay for a bit longer. When the first snail is ready to get down to business, he releases his own dart, signaling the beginning of the mating process."

"How on earth do you know these things?"

Jed shrugged. "I just do."

"There's nothing you don't know, is there? How did I ever fall in love with such a know-it-all?"

"Know-it-all or nerd?"

"The jury's still out on that distinction."

"You once told me you thought my affinity for knowledge was sexy."

Arriving at the cottage, Abbey stepped up on the deck and turned to look at Jed who stood on the step below her. "I still do. A working brain is one of the sexiest things in the world. Lucky for me, yours never quits."

"Are you buttering me up for something?"

"Maybe."

"What?"

"That's for later," she whispered as she brushed her lips against his ear. "Let's go change. I'd love to go on a hike before dusk."

"Your wish is my command." He trailed at her heels until she stopped suddenly to throw a glance over her shoulder. "Too old-school?"

"A tad."

* * *

"We need a hammock."

"A hammock?"

"At the farm. We need a hammock just like this one."

It was dark now. A porch lamp lit a hammock suspended between two maple trees where Abbey laid back to stare at the clear winter sky exploding with thousands of glittering stars. On the deck, Jed was cooking hamburgers on the barbecue grill.

"Okay. Next time I'm home, we'll buy a hammock." He was amused by the way she latched on to their surroundings, like a child in a toy store wanting to take everything home. "You wanna get the plates? The burgers are ready."

"The corn's still not done. Come over here and join me for a few minutes."

"If you say so." That was an offer he couldn't refuse. He made his way to the hammock, sliding on with his head on the same side as her feet so that he could sit up to face her.

"You know what else we should get for the farm?"

"What's that?"

"A stream, just like the one we have here."

"That's a tad tricky, don't you think?"

"A man-made one that could empty into the pond. Listen to it. It's so peaceful. I'd never get sick of the sound of water rushing over the rocks. I think we should live here forever, Jed."

"I think the girls might have something to say about that."

"Who said anything about bringing the girls?" She gave him a playful wink. "Look at the sky. It's so dark, we can see every flash of light. There must be a billion stars out tonight."

"Abbey?"

"Yeah?"

"Before you suggest it, the farm's too crowded for a planetarium."

"Very funny." She poked him with her toe. "I am going to miss this place."

"There's nothing stopping us from coming back as often as we want. Well, as often as we can."

"Just the two of us, right?"

"Of course. I'm in favor of getting away for a few days without the kids now and then."

"I've never been all that fond of the idea of leaving them behind, but I really think we need to every once in a while. I didn't know until we got here how much I needed this time alone with you. Promise me something?"

"Anything."

"When I go back to New Hampshire and you go back to Washington, we'll try harder to make things work without letting it drive us crazy."

"I'll give it my best shot."

"I realize there's a lot to do when you come home on the weekends...you want to spend time with the girls and do some things around the house...I know that. But I thought maybe we could squeeze in some alone time from now on."

"Don't we do that now?"

"I mean a whole night. Saturday night should be our night. Date night. We can go out to dinner, to the movies, dancing, I don't care. I just want us to have fun together without worrying about work or the girls or who's doing the laundry in the morning. I miss spending time with you the way we used to."

"I miss it too. I don't like being away from you anymore than you like being away from me. If I'm cranky sometimes, it's only because I feel left out of your life when I'm not there with you. Childish, isn't it?"

"Not at all. That's how I feel about politics. It's something I can't share with you because I'm not a part of it. I keep reminding myself that you and I have always believed that we didn't have to share everything to be close. It was a good thing that we had different careers, different interests. That's still true, right?"

Jed nodded. "It is. And I think we're getting better at this. Notice how I stayed out of your little quibble with Lizzie over her driving last week?"

"I was impressed. I thought for sure you'd have something to say about it."

"I had plenty to say, but that was something that started between the two of you and I knew you could handle it without me."

"Thanks."

"I've always had faith in the way you handle things with the girls, Abbey. I'll do a better job of showing that."

"You already have." She reached for his hand as they swung gently on the hammock. "Jed?"

"Yeah?"

"Hisssss."

"Are you hissing at me?"

"I think I should warn you, I'm getting close to releasing my love dart and it's kinda chilly out here, so..."

"Are you serious?"

"I am."

"Should we move this indoors?" He helped her up, then tucked his elbow under her knees and scooped her up into his arms.

"Your back!"

"My back is fine."

"What about dinner?"

"Screw dinner!"

* * *

Moments later, up in the loft, Jed cracked the window to hear the bubbling sound of the stream as it washed over the time-worn stones and down the hill on its path towards the river. He rid himself of his clothes and waited for Abbey to emerge from the bathroom wearing the black satin nighty she had packed especially for him.

"Get over here." He held out his hand to welcome her to the bed, then enveloped her in a tight embrace when she climbed onto the mattress. "We could just cuddle for a while, you know."

"We could." It was obvious that wasn't what she had planned. "But I want more."

They hadn't made love since the miscarriage. After the night in Washington when Abbey had stopped in the midst of intercourse, overwhelmed by the thoughts that raged through her mind of the baby that had lived such a short life in her womb, Jed had been careful not to pressure her. They played their sexual games and flirted with each other as they always had, but he had consciously kept things on the superficial level of banter and light kissing to avoid pushing her into something she wasn't ready to do.

Tonight was different though. She wanted him to do more than kiss her. She wanted him to touch her, to feel his body on top of hers. She wasn't thinking about the baby or about the future. She was thinking about the man who sat before her, tenderly stroking her face while 20 years of love and adoration spilled from his eyes. He was so understanding. So gentle.

"I don't want you to think that this trip was about this," he said. "It wasn't."

"I know that. And I'm not doing this to prove something, Jed. I don't want to make love to you because you gave me the best birthday present I could ever ask for, even though you did. I want to make love to you because I want to feel even closer to you than I do right now. I want you inside me. I want you to make me feel things that only you can. I want you to hold me and rock me and make me lose control. And when it's over, I want to you to lie next to me and let me curl up on your chest and listen to your heart beat over and over again. That's what I want tonight."

The thought of her desire made Jed's heart race. He stripped her of her panties, then laid back against his pillow and allowed Abbey to take the lead. She straddled him, her lips locked into his for several minutes before she moved down his chest and towards his waist. He was already panting by the time she nibbled at his penis and before he knew what she was doing, she rolled a condom onto his shaft. He breathed a sigh of relief, for to him, it was an indication that though the miscarriage wasn't yet behind them, she was now ready to move on, to let go of the crippling emotions he had witnessed two nights earlier.

She lifted her nighty over her head and tossed it across the room, and with firm hands, she lifted herself up and lowered herself down onto Jed's bulging appendage. Feeling her around him was enough to make him throw his head back in a moan so deep that she paused for a second to let him catch his breath. She leaned into him briefly to brush the hair out of his eyes, then she sat back up to begin that familiar rhythm that drove him out of his mind.

Jed grabbed her hips and swayed her back and forth as she moved up and down along the length of his shaft. Her breasts bounced, her skin glistened with sweat, and she licked her lips several times while a nest of auburn waves tumbled around her. When she leaned forward again, Jed braced her in his arms and rolled them over so he could thrust inside her the way she wanted him to.

He did it again and again, each thrust more passionate than the last, holding her the entire time as she arched her back and gasped for air and then, when she hit her climax, he thrust one last time to feel her feminine walls closing around him as the aftershocks claimed her senses.

Beads of sweat soaked his face. His eyes grew misty with the moisture of his brows as Abbey ran her fingertips over his features, a feather-light touch that pushed him over the edge. When he reclaimed his senses several minutes later, he cleared her forehead of a few damp tendrils of hair and stared deeply into her pretty green eyes.

"What?"

"Just looking to see if there's another love dart lurking back there. I'm pretty sure that one hit its target."

TBC


	29. Chapter 29

Series: Snapshots of the Past

Series: Snapshots of the Past

Story: Man of the House

Chapter 29

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Previously: Jed and Abbey enjoyed some much-needed private time at their cottage in the Poconos where they reconnected intimately

Summary: During a conversation with her grandmother, Liz learns something about Abbey's past and what drove her to medicine; Mary is surprised by Liz's plans for her future; Ellie and Zoey get themselves into trouble; Abbey is greeted by chaos when she arrives home

* * *

James stared out the passenger's side window to the children running around the schoolyard. It was easy to spot his popular blonde granddaughter. She was the one in the aqua blue parka, blue and white skirt, and blue leg warmers, holding her backpack across her chest and laughing with a group of girls as they crested a small hill towards the parking lot.

"The girl next to Ellie is Wendy," Zoey told him, sitting buckled up inside the car. "Her and Ellie are BFF."

"BFF?"

"That's best friends forever. They have a necklace that says BFF and it's cut in the middle so they both get to keep half. The other girl is Brittney. Ellie doesn't like her because she's a snob. She's even in this club with some older girls in sixth grade called the Snob Club."

"The Snob Club? Are you pulling my leg?"

"Uh uh! Ellie says they're mean to all the fifth graders."

"Is Brittney mean to Ellie?"

"She was. She pulled Ellie's hair once at recess and called her a name but then the other girls stood up for Ellie so Brittney wants to be her friend now. And that boy that's whispering in Ellie's ear is Tommy. Ellie thinks he's cute."

"She does? What happened to 'boys are gross'?"

"She thinks the rest of them are gross, but she likes Tommy because he's nice to her and he has pretty eyes. Only Wendy's supposed to know that."

James furrowed his brows. "How do YOU know?"

"Ellie told me."

"Really?" he asked, skeptical. "Did she tell you or did you eavesdrop on her when she was talking to Wendy?"

Zoey's eyes danced with mischief. "Shh, don't tell her."

"Don't you get in trouble for snooping?"

"Only when Mommy finds out." She pressed her index finger to her lips as the car door swung open.

"Hi!" Ellie slid into the backseat. "Thanks for picking me up, Grandpa. I hate taking the bus."

"I'm happy to do it."

"Hey, Zo."

"Hi."

"Say, who was that boy you were talking to?"

"Oh, that's Tommy. Why?"

James shared a smile with Zoey. "He's a good looking fellow. I thought I'd ask if he's your boyfriend."

"Grandpa, I'm only ten!"

"Exactly my point, Cricket. I have to be on the lookout for these types of things."

"He's not my boyfriend. Boys are disgusting!"

Zoey leaned over the top of the passenger's seat. "I think Tommy likes you, Ellie."

"He doesn't like me, Zoey. He's just a boy in my class."

"A boy who likes you."

"He does not."

Zoey giggled as an amused James sat her back down and buckled her in so he could drive away from the elementary school.

* * *

It was nearly impossible for Mary to watch Liz baking in the kitchen and not remember the sweet little girl who used to sit on the counter and hover over her grandmother's shoulders while she made a sinfully delicious dessert. Lizzie was three years old when Abbey began medical school and Mary became the primary babysitter. On the weekends that Jed was busy grading exams or preparing for the next week of lectures, Mary took Lizzie over to her house for the day to give Abbey space to study.

In between tea parties and Barbie makeovers, the duo frequently took to the kitchen, armed with the ingredients for brand new recipes. The older Liz got, the more responsibility she was given. At three, her job was to stand on a stool and watch. At six, she stirred the batter with an electric mixer. At 16, it was finally her show. Mary stepped back and allowed Liz to take the reins from start to finish. Just as she suspected, Liz transitioned seamlessly from observant student to talented baker.

"Gram, how come you never worked?" she asked as she carefully layered the cake.

Mary paused midstride en route from the fridge to the counter where Liz was standing. "I'm sorry?"

"Didn't you want to work? Didn't you want a career?" Liz reached for the bowl of chilled strawberry mix in her grandmother's hand.

"No, I didn't. My job was raising my children and it was the most rewarding career in the world."

"But if you were going to have a career outside of the house, what would it have been?"

"I never really thought about it. I guess I always knew I wanted to stay home with my kids. Why do you ask?"

Liz shrugged. "I was thinking the other day. You stayed home with your kids and your mom stayed home with her kids, right?"

"Yeah."

"But yet, from all the stories I've heard about my mom, it seems like she always knew she wanted to do something else. Why is that?"

"Oh Lizzie, I grew up in a time when staying home with the children was what women did, but that isn't why I chose to follow tradition. I chose it because it's what I wanted and your mother chose to buck tradition and have a career because it's what SHE wanted. It doesn't make either one of our choices better than the other."

"I'm not being critical. I'm just curious if Mom ever considered staying home and raising her family."

"Never. Your mom knew from childhood what she wanted in her life was a husband and children and a career to call her own. I think she was six years old the first time she said she wanted to be a doctor. She changed her mind about a billion times by the time she reached college, of course."

"She did?"

Mary held Liz hair back as Liz leaned forward to spread the mix to the back of the top layer of cake. "Of course. She wanted to be a veterinarian, a police officer, a horse trainer, an equestrian, a ballerina, an actress, a singer, a school teacher, oh and one summer when she was just about your age, she said she was going to run off to New York to become a go-go dancer."

"You're kidding!" Liz laughed.

"I think she was testing her father with that one. Her form of rebellion."

"So how did she finally settle on medicine?"

"Her senior year of high school, she had a very good friend who got very sick. His name was Stephen Beezly. Did she ever tell you about him?" Liz shook her head. "He developed leukemia and died shortly before graduation."

"Mom took it pretty hard, huh?"

Mary somberly remembered Abbey's heartbreak. "She was devastated. They were extremely close. They grew up together. He was her best friend. In many ways, he was like a brother to her. After he got sick, your mom used to stop by the hospital every day after school with new literature on leukemia and on cancer in general. What caused it, how it manifested itself, how to fight it. Most of the stuff went way over my head and I'm sure over Stephen's as well, but Abigail tried her best to explain it."

"How did she understand it?"

"She forced herself to for his sake. God, did she study. Her school grades suffered because she was so busy with this. She used to sit in her room at night with these big thick science books and a medical dictionary just so she could sift through all the information. Then, day after day, she and her friend, Millicent...Millie...would go to the hospital so they could tell Stephen what they learned. 'He at least has a right to know what's happening inside his body,' she used to say. His doctors were tight-lipped about the details of his illness."

"Why?"

"His parents asked them to be. They didn't want to upset him. They didn't want him to know he was dying, so they put on a brave front and made everyone around him do that too. What they didn't realize is that not knowing what to expect was more upsetting to him than any truth the doctors could have given him. He got sicker and sicker and by the time your mom stepped in to try to tutor him on his disease, he had already become depressed and complacent. To this day, she'll say that Stephen lost his battle with cancer the second he lost the will to fight his doctors for a realistic prognosis."

"That's so sad."

"It is. I'll never forget the day he died. Abbey was heartbroken. She nearly collapsed at the funeral. I wasn't sure how she'd ever recover from losing him and it didn't help matters much that his parents were angry with the girls and with me for allowing them to be so frank with Stephen before his death."

"That's not fair. Mom did what her friend needed her to do."

"Yes, she did. But that's not how they saw it, not that it was that big a deal to Abbey. Stephen was already gone and that was all she cared about."

"So Mom became a doctor to help people like him?"

"Sort of. Helping him through his illness changed her. She blossomed into an amazing young woman, so much more mature than other girls her age, so sensitive and compassionate. She thought about going into research at first. Dedicating her life to finding a cure for cancer was tempting to her, but she found that her passion was in comforting patients and helping them understand their disease, helping them cope and get better by being informed about what was happening to them."

"Then why surgery?"

"Once she chose clinical medicine, the rest was logistics. She fell in love with surgery during her third-year rotations and, eventually, settled on thoracic surgery during residency rotations."

"But wouldn't she have more interaction with patients in a different specialty?"

"She's never said this, but I've always assumed it was the urgency of surgery that drew her in. To know that she could save someone's life in the O.R. and not have to wait for months of medicinal treatment or test results to get a prognosis attracted her. That's my own theory though. You should ask her if you want to know. I'm sure she'd be more than happy to share her reasons with you."

"She doesn't talk to me about it."

"Have you ever asked?"

"I did, once or twice." Liz humbly bowed her head. "Okay, maybe not in so many words."

"What brought all this on today?"

"I've just been thinking about it lately...you know, with college apps and the SATs coming up and stuff, I was curious."

"Have you narrowed down your list of schools?"

"Not yet. A lot of it will depend on my SAT score."

"You've got Barrington and Bartlet blood running through your veins. You'll do fine."

"Not so sure about that. Anyway, I hate tough decisions."

"Get used to it. Life is full of them. Before you know it, people are going to start badgering you about a major."

"Oh, I've got that covered."

"Yeah? What'd you come up with?"

"Pre-law with an emphasis in government and public policy."

"Your dad must be proud you're following in his footsteps."

"I think he is."

"Law school?"

"Definitely! Constitutional Law. I think maybe I'll become a college professor."

"And what about a family? You're going to wait until after school, right?"

"I don't want a family. I mean, a husband, sure, but not kids."

Mary looked up, surprised. "No kids?"

"No. Why? Are you surprised?"

"More than a little. You've always been the maternal type, Elizabeth. You're the only person I've ever known who made her parents buy a car seat for her dolls."

Liz chuckled. "I remember that."

"I do too. You wouldn't let anyone start driving until they were strapped in nice and safe. How do you go from that to not wanting kids at all?"

"Having kids takes a lot of commitment and if I decide to do something radical like run for public office someday, I don't want to have to worry about how it'll affect my children."

"Your dad's in Congress and he's got the three of you."

"I know," Liz said bitterly as she drizzled chocolate syrup over the top of the cake.

"What's that tone about? I thought you were his biggest supporter."

"I am. He's the most selfless man in the world, how could I not be? But...I miss him. A lot. I want him to come home for good and I know that's selfish, but it's how I feel. I don't want my kids to ever feel that way."

"His absence has been hard on all of you, especially your mother. You know who she credits with making it easier though?"

"Who?"

"You."

"Me?"

"Yes."

"No way."

"She tells me all the time how much effort you put in to making things run smoothly around here."

"What does she say?"

"All kinds of things. You give Zoey her bath when she works late, you help Ellie with her homework, get them ready for school and pack their lunch the night before - as well as breakfast for your mom - when she has early morning rounds so she doesn't have to deal with it at 4 a.m.., you meet Ellie at the bus stop to walk her home every afternoon, and you even have a snack waiting for her when she gets here. All of that along with your normal chores. Thank God for Lizzie, that's what she says."

"Really? She says that?"

Liz took those words to heart. Like many teenagers, appreciating her mother wasn't always as easy as it had been when she was a child. She had a tendency to hold on to grudges, to blame Abbey for not being the perfect mother she expected her to be. When there was a problem between them, Liz was good at dishing out the blame without accepting any of the responsibility. But she had made an effort to change all that. What she wanted was to embrace her mother with all the love in her heart and helping her through these last few months was the first step in showing her that. She was grateful that Abbey had noticed.

* * *

"Zoey? Zoey, where are you?" Ellie ducked her head into the bathroom in search of her sister. "Zo?"

"SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

The ten-year-old whipped her head around to the sound coming out of Liz's bedroom. A bored Zoey had climbed into her big sister's closet and from the way she tried to shush her, Ellie knew instantly that she was up to no good. She approached cautiously, unwilling to allow Zoey to drag her into trouble.

"What are you doing?"

Zoey held up an antique jewelry box. "Look what Lizzie bought Mommy for her birthday."

"How do you know it's for Mom?"

"Because it was wrapped."

"ZOEY! You're not supposed to unwrap gifts! Get out of there!"

"Wanna know what else I found?"

"NO!"

"Okay, but it's yours."

"What's mine?"

"Your camera."

"The one Mom and Dad got me for Christmas?"

"Uh huh."

Ellie stepped into the closet and saw her Polaroid camera sitting on the shelf. "I thought I lost it! What's it doing here?"

"I dunno."

Footsteps jolted the two girls. Ellie hustled further into the closet so they could hide behind Liz's clothes to avoid being seen. As their sister neared, Zoey slowly shut the creaking door until it closed to a crack, fighting back her giggles while Ellie tried to quiet her.

Liz pulled her shirt over her head on the way to her dresser to retrieve her red knit sweater. She slipped it on, tugging on the hem to get it past the small swell of her breasts and down to her waist, then headed to the full-length mirror in the corner of the room. Arching her back slightly, she turned to one side, then to the other, sighing at her reflection. She then fetched a pair of old shoulder pads she kept hidden under her mattress and shoved her hand under her sweater to stuff them into her bra. Her lips curved into a smile at the instant change in her figure.

From the closet, Ellie kept her hand planted firmly over her mouth to muffle her laughter. Her bare foot twitched slightly when she felt something against it. It tickled her, the furry little creature that squeaked and lightly gnawed at her toes. She glanced down, screamed in horror, and lurched out of the closet on a frantic dash towards the hall. Zoey followed, howling as loud as her sister as she ran past Liz and out the door.

"GRANDMA!" The two younger girls galloped down the stairs and yelled for Mary.

"What on earth is going on?"

"THERE'S A MOUSE!" Ellie told her. "It was licking my foot. Go get it!"

"Where?"

"Upstairs in Lizzie's closet."

"You little BRATS!" Liz called after them as she breezed down the steps. "What were you doing in my closet?"

"We were just playing," Zoey insisted.

Liz addressed her grandmother. "Are you going to do something about this?"

"Forget us. There's a MOUSE in your room! Don't you care?"

"It wasn't a mouse. It was a rat. It knew it was in good company." Liz snatched Ellie's camera. "Did you take a picture of me getting dressed up there?"

"No."

"Liar."

"I didn't! And you had no right to hide my camera in your closet!"

"I told you last month that if you didn't stop shoving that thing in my face, I was going to dismember it and feed it to the wolves."

"Lizzie, give it back!" Ellie tried to get the camera.

"Not until I know you didn't take a picture of me..." She paused hesitantly. "...doing whatever I was doing."

"I didn't!"

Mary stepped between the feuding sisters. "Both of you, calm down. Liz, why would you think that Ellie took a picture of you changing?"

"Because she does that sort of thing."

"I do not!"

Ellie wedged herself around the older woman to grab for her camera, but Liz yanked harder, so hard that when Ellie loosened her grip, she fell back and smacked herself in the mouth.

"ELLIE!" Mary shouted at her.

"I didn't do anything! She pulled too hard!"

A sound from the foyer caught Zoey's attention and she looked over to see Abbey walking through the front door with a duffel bag draped over her shoulder. "MOMMY!"

Abbey held out her arms to her youngest daughter, but never took her eyes off the other two still bickering on the stairs. "Do I dare ask what's going on?"

* * *

"The only thing I asked before I left is that you not fight. I'm gone for less than a week and you behave like hooligans." Abbey applied a damp cloth to Liz's busted lip.

"This was our only fight the whole time you were gone," Liz mumbled in a voice dulled by the cloth. She sat at the edge of Ellie's bed, shooting her sister a stare as contentious as it was abrupt.

"Stop talking."

"Mommy?"

Abbey looked over at Zoey who sat in a chair in front of Ellie's homework desk. "What?"

"I'm sorry we made you mad."

Liz rolled her eyes. "You and Ellie started it, Zoey."

"No, we didn't."

Ellie jumped to her feet. "You started it by taking my camera!"

"What did I tell you about getting up out of that chair?" Abbey barked, watching as Ellie sat back down.

"If my camera wasn't in your closet, I never would've been in there. You're just mad now because we know you stuff your bra."

Liz's dispirited eyes met Abbey's angry ones. "Can I kill her a little?"

"Ellie, that's enough," Abbey chided. "Liz..."

Liz shook her head at what she was about to hear. "Don't say it."

"As the oldest, I expect you to hold things together while I'm gone."

"Even when I'm outnumbered? They ganged up on me."

"You should have let your grandmother handle it instead of getting into that scuffle downstairs. You're bigger and stronger than Ellie is."

"And yet, I'm the one sitting here with a bloody lip. Whatever. Take their side, I don't care."

Placing an ice pack over Liz's mouth, Abbey replied, "I'm not taking sides. I think there's more than enough blame to go around. What were you doing with Ellie's camera in the first place?"

"I was fed up! You wouldn't have gotten mad if she was taking pictures of you every second of every day? I couldn't even brush my teeth in the morning without her hiding in the shower and snapping a photo."

"If she was that intrusive, you should have come to me. In this house, we don't take each others things, regardless of the reasons."

"Fine, I was wrong," Liz huffed.

"Yes, you were, and I'd like you to adjust the attitude before dinner. I don't want any more trouble tonight, got it?"

"Yes."

"And don't think Ellie and Zoey are getting away with anything. The three of us are going to have a long talk about privacy and boundaries after Grandma and Grandpa leave."

"We are?" Zoey asked.

"You bet we are." Abbey stood. "Get washed up and meet downstairs when you're finished."

As their mother left, Ellie uttered softly, "Sorry you got hurt, Lizzie."

* * *

"Lock them in a room and don't let them out until they make up."

"Jed..." Abbey uncoiled the phone cord and accepted a cup of tea that Mary poured for her.

"Tell me I'm wrong."

"You're wrong. Forcing them to make up will prove nothing. They'll get over it on their own."

"How do you know?"

"Because that's how it works with sisters. In a few days, they won't even remember this."

"You're sure?"

"I'm sure."

"Yeah, okay," he agreed reluctantly as he glanced at his watch. "Listen, I've got a late committee meeting tonight. I'll call you when I get in?"

"All right."

"You okay?"

"Yeah. I just wish I was still with you. I'm not ready to go back to real life yet."

"You and me both, babe. Love you."

"Love you too."

Mary waited until she saw Abbey hang up the receiver, then asked, "So how was the big birthday surprise?"

"Amazing." Abbey smiled. "After 18 years, he still sweeps me off my feet."

"He's a good man," James agreed from the kitchen table.

"You miss him already, don't you?"

"Every time I see him, Mom, it's like I have to get used to living without him all over again. It's awful."

"It'll get easier," James assured her.

"Everyone says that, but no one seems to be able to tell me when. When will it get easier, Dad?"

"Abbey, the truth is, most couples have never done what you and Jed are doing," Mary started. "But I think the fact that you're doing it and you're making it work says something about your marriage. I don't know too many people who could juggle the responsibilities of raising a family together while living 500 miles apart."

"You're right. I just underestimated how hard it would be." Abbey closed her eyes at the delicious aroma of the homebaked cake on the counter. "Chocolate strawberry shortcake?"

"Lizzie made it."

"By herself?"

"Yeah. You want a piece?"

"Not until the girls come down."

"What are they doing?"

She took the seat opposite her father. "Blowing off steam so we can have a peaceful dinner, hopefully."

"When does Mrs. Wilburforce start?"

"On Monday."

"She's going to have her hands full," James said, grinning.

Hesitantly, Ellie crossed the entryway to the kitchen. She looked over at Abbey, her blue-green eyes teary with remorse and searching for forgiveness for her role in the fight with Liz. Abbey held out her hand to her and when Ellie made her way over, she hugged her, tenderly twirling a shiny blond curl around her finger as she pulled away.

"Can I sleep with you tonight?" the fifth grader asked.

"What's wrong with your own room?"

"I'm afraid I'll wake up and there'll be a mouse on me."

"Mice want nothing to do with humans, Ellie." Abbey saw the doubt that troubled her as Ellie dipped her head. "Yeah, you can sleep with me. We'll make it a slumber party."

"Thanks!"

"Did you apologize to Lizzie?"

Ellie nodded. "She's still mad at me."

"She's going to be mad for a while."

"I suppose I should get used to the silent treatment. She called me a traitor for hiding in her closet with Zoey and said she wasn't going to talk to me anymore."

"She'll come around."

"Be patient, Ellie," James told her. "It may take a while if she's anything like her mother. Abigail once got mad at your Aunt Kate and didn't speak to her for a solid month."

Ellie dropped her jaw and turned to her mother. "What did she do?"

"I don't know, probably broke into my room like you and Zoey did."

"So that's where we get it from! I don't think it's right that we should be grounded when snooping is in our genes."

"Nice try, smarty pants." Abbey glared at her father. "What did I say about charming the girls with stories of my youth?"

"You're just lucky we haven't gotten to the saga of the teenage years yet."

Her face lit with enthusiasm, Ellie replied, "I wanna hear!"

"Aren't you in enough trouble?" Abbey asked pointedly. "Come on, help me set the table."

"But it's Lizzie's turn." Ellie noted her mother's sharp expression, her left brow menacingly raised, making her look even angrier than before. She quickly changed her tune. "I'll get the plates."

TBC


	30. Chapter 30

Series: Snapshots of the Past

Series: Snapshots of the Past

Story: Man of the House

Chapter 30

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Previously: Liz learned why Abbey went into medicine and also shared with her grandmother her plans for her future; Ellie and Zoey hid in Liz's closet, leading to a fight between the girls; Ellie was scared by a mouse on the loose; Jed was photographed for a feature story in GQ Magazine (Chapter 20); Jed fired Christine after she made some inappropriate comments about him (Chapter 21)

Summary: It's a regular morning with the Bartlets; Jed and Abbey discuss her feelings about what happened with Christine; Jed's new communications director makes a bad first impression

* * *

Lying flat on his back with a pillow over his head to block the stream of sunlight that was starting to filter in through the Venetian blinds, Jed clumsily reached for the phone. He squinted against the cobwebs in his eyes to get a look at the time as he pulled the receiver up to his ear.

"It's 6:58," he said. "I have two minutes of sleep left."

"Awfully late start for you." Abbey sipped her steaming cup of coffee and took a seat at the kitchen table.

"It wouldn't have been if some playful little vixen hadn't kept me up half the night. How the hell are you so cheery anyway?"

"One o'clock is not half the night."

Jed collapsed back under his pillow. "We hung up at one. Doesn't mean I went to bed at one."

"No?" She grinned, remembering the torturously erotic conversation they'd had. It had led to a game of sexual innuendo over the phone and after they hung up, she too had trouble winding down.

"Get that smirk off your face!"

"Just as soon as you sit up."

"How'd you know I laid back down?"

"The same way you knew it was me calling."

"That's not fair, I know your ring."

"Yeah, yeah." She liked it when he said that.

"I hate Mondays," he griped as he slammed his hand down on his buzzing alarm clock.

"Here's something that might cheer you up."

"What's that?"

Abbey glanced at the stack of GQ magazines sitting on the table beside her. She fumbled with the one on top and opened it to a very special spread. "Guess what I'm looking at?"

"What?"

"A GQ article dubbed 'The Men of the House: An exclusive look at the newest members of the House of Representatives.'"

"How'd you get your hands on it already?"

"I got up early and went to the newsstand. Did you think I was going to wait until after work to get a peek at my handsome devil of a husband in action?" She couldn't peel her eyes off the photograph of Jed behind his congressional desk, signing his name on a bill. "Legislating makes you even hotter, you know that?"

"Are you trying to flatter me, Dr. Bartlet?"

"I don't need to flatter you. I've already got you."

"So the wooing phase is over?"

"It has been for a long time, pumpkin."

He heard the shuffling sound of paper. "What are you doing?"

"Thumbing through the magazine. They did an excellent job of outlining your profile and qualifications. Too bad everyone's going to be so distracted by those gorgeous eyes, they won't bother to read the sideline."

"Okay, okay. I know what you're doing." He lazily sat up. "I'm getting up."

"Why aren't there any women?"

"Where?"

"In the article."

"It's Gentlemen's Quarterly."

"Still, they could have sacrificed a page. There were no women elected this year?"

"Not many. The few who were, were incumbents."

"What's wrong with this country? Women make up the majority of the population. Is it too much to ask that they comprise five percent of the government?"

"Of course not."

"It's a sad commentary on democracy."

"Abbey?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm still half asleep. I can't handle anything deeper than good morning right now."

"Oh, fine," she sighed. "We'll have that conversation later."

"I can hardly wait."

"Hang on, let me see if Liz is out of the shower." Hearing footsteps pitter-pattering upstairs, Abbey lowered the receiver and shouted, "Girls, your dad's on the phone!"

Zoey was the first to run towards the small moon console against the wall between Ellie and Liz's rooms. She snatched the phone out of its cradle. "DADDY!"

"Hey there, Kitten. How's my sweet girl this morning?"

"Fine."

"Are you getting ready for school?"

"Uh huh. Mommy's letting me wear my new shoes." Zoey's attention waned as she saw Liz, dressed in her bathrobe, breeze by on her way to her bedroom. "Daddy's on the phone."

Liz acknowledged the statement with a nod, then picked up the extension in her room. "Dad?"

"It's the Lizlateer!"

"That's the worst nickname ever."

Jed chuckled. "How are ya, Lizzie?"

"I'm good. How are you?"

"I was doing better a few minutes ago when I was still asleep."

"It's so late. Why were you still asleep?"

"Only in our house would anyone consider 7 a.m. late."

Abbey, who was still on the extension in the kitchen, replied. "It's late for us. It's early for you and for Ellie. Speaking of Ellie, tell me she's up, girls?"

"She is," Zoey assured her. "She's looking for her black tights."

"Tell her they're in the wash and that she should wear pants today. It's going to be cold."

Zoey hollered for her sister without moving the phone. "ELLIE, MOMMY SAYS YOU HAVE TO WEAR PANTS TODAY!"

"Zoey, why are you yelling into the phone?" Liz scolded.

"I have to yell or she won't hear me."

"Not into the phone you don't. I think you busted my eardrum. Mom, what time will Mrs. Wilburforce be here?"

"In a half hour. I want all three of you ready for school when she gets here."

"Is she taking us to school?"

"She's taking Zoey. You and Ellie are riding with me."

Jed threw his covers aside, the four-way conversation finally waking him up. "You're sure she's a good driver?"

"She has a license," Abbey told him.

"So does Lizzie."

"Ha ha, Dad. You're not funny."

"I'm a riot. Just ask my colleagues. I'm funnier than all of them combined."

"Yeah, but how high is that bar?"

"Watch it, smartass."

Abbey sneered, "See, Jed, now she's going to spend the afternoon throwing darts at your magazine."

"It's here?" Liz wrapped her wet hair in a towel.

"Yup. I have about a dozen copies down here in the kitchen."

"Let me brush my teeth and I'll be right down!"

Following Liz's lead, Zoey blurted, "Me too!" before hanging up the phone.

The younger girl raced to the bathroom and climbed up on the counter in front of the sink. She sat there, waiting, until Liz sauntered in and saw her. The teen folded her arms over her chest, a gesture that Zoey mimicked instantly and when Liz attempted to skirt around her to get to the sink, Zoey wiggled herself squarely in front, making it impossible.

"Zoey, I need to brush my teeth."

"I know."

"So get out of my way."

Zoey inched herself slowly to the side to give Liz just enough room to wedge through. "Lizzie, are you still mad at me?"

"Yes."

"Are you ever not gonna be mad at me?"

"No." Liz squeezed toothpaste onto her brush.

"Really?"

"Yes."

Zoey thought for a minute, her sock-clad feet dangling off the edge of the counter. "I'll give you my allowance."

"I'll still be mad," Liz replied with her toothbrush stuffed in her mouth.

"What if I say I'm sorry every day for a whole year? Will you forgive me then?"

"Nope."

"What if I clean your room?"

"Nope."

"What if I do whatever you want...forever?"

"Nope."

Zoey furrowed her brows as she crinkled her pretty pink nightgown with her fingers. "Do you hate me, Lizzie?"

Liz took one look at the sad five-year-old's expression. She rinsed her mouth and said, "No, Zo, I don't hate you. I'm just mad at you. I don't think it's funny when you go into my room and mess with my things. It's MY room, my closet is MY closet, my diary is MY diary. Can you understand that?"

Zoey nodded. "I won't do it again."

"You always say that."

"But I mean it this time. I won't do it anymore, I promise. Will you give me another chance?"

"Fine, I'll give you one more chance, but if I catch you in my room again, you're so dead." Liz splashed water on her face, then held out her arms to help Zoey down. "Come on. I'll help you get ready for school."

Zoey threw her arms around Liz's neck and wrapped her legs around her waist, hugging her tight. "I love you."

"I love you too." Liz returned the hug.

It was hard for Liz to stay mad at her sisters. They drove her up the wall sometimes, but she knew they were as crazy about her as she was about them. Occasionally, tempers would flare and feelings would get hurt. Sometimes it was her fault. Sometimes it was Ellie's or Zoey's. Sometimes it was a combination of all three. No matter what though, the Bartlet girls were miserable when they were at odds with each other and it was only when their squabbles were resolved that it felt like life had returned back to normal.

Downstairs, Abbey tucked the phone under her chin while she prepared a breakfast of egg and cheese sandwiches for her daughters. "Tell me about your new communications director."

"I have nothing to tell yet," Jed replied. "All I know is that his name is Sam Lloyd and he's supposedly very good."

"You have doubts?"

"I don't like people who have two first names."

"You're a name snob."

"I'm not a name snob. I just want to be sure this is the right person for the job. After Christine..."

"Christine is history. She was a duplicitous bitch who's out of the picture for good."

He was starting to make his way to the shower when he stopped just short of the bathroom. "Wow."

"What?"

"I thought I heard a twinge of jealousy in the 'duplicitous bitch' comment. Or maybe I'm still half-asleep."

Abbey waited a beat to say, "You're not."

"Anger, I can understand, but jealousy?"

"That's how I felt at the time. That night I came to your office...after Ellie had told me about Christine...I was angry and yeah, a little jealous. There's no reason for it so don't go looking for one. Jealousy is a perfectly natural human emotion."

"Sure, when a person feels envious or threatened by a rival. What did you have to feel threatened about?"

"It doesn't always work that way. Sometimes, there's no rhyme or reason for feelings."

"If I tried that line on you, you'd bust my chops. Did you think I was flirting with Christine?"

"No."

"Abbey."

"For the teeniest sliver of a second, I wondered. Call me human."

"Sweetheart, do I have to take a few seconds out of every day to remind you how much I love you? Because I will."

"I know it wasn't your fault that Christine developed a crush. I told you that that night."

"But?"

"You've got a line of admirers in Washington."

"Groupies maybe."

"They're more than groupies. These women aren't the flighty college girls who sat in the back of the class and fantasized about their dreamy professor during Econ 101 at Dartmouth. They're accomplished, successful, intelligent women, many of whom might very well give up their right arm to get you between the sheets."

"That's never going to happen."

"I know that. But they're there and I'm here. I'd be lying if I said I don't think about it sometimes."

"What exactly is it you think about?"

"How uncomfortable you'd be if only you realized they were flirting. I know you, Jed. You fraternize with your colleagues without a second thought of dubious motives. That's what happened with Christine. And when it finally came out..."

"You know, you're with smart, good-looking men all day long. Brain surgeons. Heart surgeons. I'd have to be superhuman not to notice, but I don't let it get to me. So what is it about my situation that makes it different?"

"The fact that I know when I'm being hit on," Abbey teased. "I'm not complaining, Jed. I'm just telling you that the thought occurs to me sometimes, especially when the press declares you the sexiest man to hit Washington."

"You lie."

"GQ Magazine, page 18."

Jed laughed. "Screw the magazine. Let's talk about something important. You really think there were people who weren't paying attention during my Econ 101 classes? I worked hard on those lectures."

Abbey nearly dropped the phone, jolted by a trio of shrieking girlish screams followed by the stomping of feet stampeding down the steps.

"MMMMMMOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMM!"

"I'll call you back!" She tossed the phone onto the receiver and hightailed it to the base of the stairs. "What? What is it?"

"The mouse is back!" Ellie tugged on her mother's arm to pull her up. "You have to get it!"

The foursome rounded the corner at the top landing, heading towards Zoey's room where the Bartlet cat, Ginger, stood growling at the dresser.

"Where was it?"

"Under my dresser," Zoey whined. "Lizzie and me saw it come out and sneak back in."

"It went back under the dresser?"

"Yeah."

"I say let Ginger take care of it."

Ellie turned a rebellious eye to Liz's suggestion. "NO! She'll kill it."

"That's the point, El. Duh."

"It doesn't deserve to die! Mom, we can't let Ginger kill it. It's gross and all, but it has a right to live. We have to get it and set it free outside."

"Ellie, quit being so Pollyanna about it..."

Abbey interjected to stop the interaction before it turned into another round of bickering. "Liz, leave her alone. Zoey, why don't you take Ginger out into the hall?"

"Come on, Ginger." The five-year-old bent down to pick up her pet.

Once the path was cleared, Abbey nudged Ellie. "Okay, Ellie, go ahead and get it."

"ME?" Ellie replied, exasperated. "Not me! Can't you do it?"

"I set out traps. That's the best I can do."

"Please, Mom? Can't you pick it up? You handled worse things in med school, didn't you?"

A disgusted Abbey grumbled while shoving her hands into a pair of gloves. She then kneeled down to the ground and just as her hands touched the floor, the mouse ran out from behind the dresser, crisscrossed around her, and disappeared into a tiny hole in the wall.

"Great," Liz groaned to Ellie. "Now what are we gonna do?"

"Move!"

* * *

"What is it about mice that sends women into a frenzy?" Jed strolled into his congressional suite, in a good mood as he approached his deputy chief of staff. "Lindsay, how do you react to mice?"

"They creep me out, sir. Why?"

"There's a mouse in my house that's been wreaking havoc all weekend with my wife and daughters."

"Can they get a trap?"

"Abbey's already set out a trap, but this little critter's too smart for that. He's been targeting the girls' rooms."

"Didn't they have hamsters when they were little?"

"Lizzie did, but after it died, we got her a parakeet instead. Ellie's never been fond of rodents and if Ellie's scared of something, that usually means that Zoey is too."

"Bet they can't wait 'til Dad comes home to take care of it next weekend."

"If Ellie hasn't moved out by then."

Michael made a play for Jed's attention by interrupting the conversation. "Congressman, the new communications director is on her way up."

"Oh, good." Jed began towards his office, catching himself almost immediately. "Wait. Her? I thought you hired this Sam...somebody."

"Lloyd," a raven-haired woman informed him from the doorway. "And it's Samantha. Or Sami. I go by Sam on my resume because I find that people take me more seriously when they think I'm a man."

"Well then." Somewhat surprised, Jed extended his hand. "Jed Bartlet."

"Yes, sir. It's nice to meet you."

"How long were you expecting to play the gender game?"

"Your staff knew I was a woman at the interview."

His briefcase still in his hands, Jed eyed Michael and Lindsay. "That would've been an appropriate piece of information to share with me."

"It didn't come up, Congressman."

"Should I assume it bothers you that I'm a woman?"

"No, of course not."

"Because if it does, I'll wipe off my make-up, chop off my hair, and grab my crotch." Seeing the shock on her boss's face, Sam backtracked slightly. "I'm kidding. Just trying to lighten up the mood a little. The truth is, I won't chop off my hair for anyone."

Michael, caught off-guard by the woman's candor, intervened. "Sam, why don't I show you to your office?"

Sam gave Jed a crooked smile. "Congressman, in all seriousness, I apologize. I was kidding. Perhaps my humor is a little off-key for the workplace. If I overstepped the bounds of office etiquette, please accept my sincere apology."

Five seconds in his presence and already she was apologizing. What troubled Jed more was the fact that she'd said something that required an apology in the first place. If his staff hadn't sung her praises for days before the meeting, he might have vetoed this hire, but he trusted Michael and Lindsay, he trusted their judgment, at least enough to let Sam's colorful choice of words slide, for now.

Cautiously, he said, "Just do me a favor and keep the jokes from the waist up from now on, okay? Welcome aboard."

* * *

That evening, Jed ruffled the covers to get ready for bed as he held tight to the phone, listening to Abbey recount the day's events from morning until bedtime. Having missed their usual conversation at dinner thanks to Abbey's late-day trauma surgery, he was hearing the conclusion to the Bartlet mouse caper for the very first time.

"So Liz tried to lure it out from its cubby hole while I stood ready to scoop it up. That plan failed, of course, and then Ginger broke free from Zoey's watch and came barreling in at warp speed...went head first right into the wall. As if it wasn't bad enough the first time, she backed up and did it again over and over while Liz cheered her on, Ellie screamed at her to stop, and Zoey yelled at both her sisters for frightening Ginger, as if anything short of a German shepherd would frighten that cat."

"Sounds like quite the morning." Amused, Jed chuckled. "I take it the mouse went into terminal hiding."

"Wouldn't surprise me. Mrs. Wilburforce arrived before we could do anything more."

"And the girls?"

"They reluctantly went to school. The trap's still empty though. Zoey's bunking with Ellie tonight."

"It didn't scare Mrs. Wilburforce away, did it?"

"No. If anything, it gave her a good laugh."

"How'd she do today?"

"Fabulous. She took Zoey to school, picked up some dry cleaning, did the dishes, cooked dinner for the girls. Most importantly, she was here when they got home. I always feel like I'm asking too much of Lizzie to look after her sisters when I'm working until 8 or 9 p.m."

"This certainly takes the burden off her shoulders."

"It does." Abbey climbed into bed.

"Listen, I need to tell you something."

"What?"

"My new communications director..."

"That's right! How'd it go?"

"She's a woman."

"And?"

"And I can't help thinking back to what you said this morning."

"What did I say?"

"About women, about how you feel when I'm working with them."

"Jed, I wasn't talking about all women!"

"I know, but you were talking about women who work with me. More precisely, women in this role...my communications director, like Christine."

"I have a feeling you're about to spin what I said in a moment of impulsive sincerity to excuse your own feelings about working with another woman."

"Are you accusing me of being disingenuous?"

"You could say that." She sat up and leaned against the headboard. "Lindsay's a woman and you know I adore her. What I said, I said in reference to Christine and women like her, but it's nowhere near reflective of every woman in America."

"Are you finished?"

"Almost. Don't let my silly remarks be the reason you don't give this Sam Lloyd a chance."

"Who said I wasn't going to give her a chance?"

"You have that sound in your voice."

He furrowed his brows. "You know me too well. It's scary now."

"Only to you. What did she do?"

"She didn't do anything. She just...has this way about her. Her demeanor. She's very in-your-face, you know? Smart-alecky. Bold. Brassy. You know name it."

"So what's wrong with that? Did she make a pass at you?"

"No, nothing like that. She made some stupid joke about grabbing her crotch to fit in with the boys."

"On her first day? What kind of impression is she trying to make?"

"She apologized when she realized what she said, but...she's aggressive."

"In and of itself, that might not be a bad quality, assuming she keeps a professional attitude. She can handle the republicans, right?"

"Yeah."

"And she's smart?"

"Yeah."

"And she's good at what she does?"

"So I hear."

"Then, give her an opportunity to prove herself. You never know, she might be a sheep in wolf's clothing."

"And what if she's the opposite?"

"If she's a...what's higher than a wolf on the food chain?"

"Nothing. Wolves are top dog and if this woman turns out to be a wolf, I'm going to remember this conversation."

"And throw my words back at me?"

"You bet your cute little ass."

Abbey laid back, spreading her hands out across the mattress. "Jed?"

"Yeah?"

"The bed feels so empty without you."

"My bed too," he said as he did the same thing. "I love you, babe."

"I love you."

TBC


	31. Chapter 31

Series: Snapshots of the Past

Series: Snapshots of the Past

Story: Man of the House

Chapter 31

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Previously: Abbey admitted to feeling a bit of jealousy over the Christine issue; Jed met his new communications director, Samantha Lloyd, who made a bad first impression; Congressman Bennett torpedoes Jed's efforts to introduce a bill to increase the minimum wage (Chapter 14); Jed and Leo strike a truce at their first meeting after Leo's intervention (Chapter 14); Ellie agrees to enter the science fair with Abbey's help (Chapter 21)

Summary: Jed gets the upper hand over his political nemesis; Leo is impressed by Jed's move; Abbey helps Liz prepare for her Biology test; Ellie does a trial run of her science fair presentation before her family

* * *

Jed Bartlet was many things - smart, compassionate, driven, a man who routinely sought new solutions to age-old problems, who could analyze a situation that, to others, seemed hopeless and walk away with renewed optimism. He was an idealist, a pragmatic one, if there was such a thing, a dreamer grounded in the limitations of reality, but ready to push the bar higher and higher until he could feel those limitations fade before his very eyes.

He was an economist. Boring on paper, but lively and captivating in person. A Nobel Prize winner, a professor, a congressman, a father and a husband. In every facet of his life, Jed drained himself of everything inside him to give to others, whether it was through research to uncover answers for economically deprived countries, or in the classroom, where his lectures reached thousands of students a day, or at home with his wife and daughters, who never had any doubts where his personal loyalties lie, or in the hallowed halls and chambers of the United States Capitol where his signature had the power to force reform to protect the most vital staples of life.

He was in it to voice his convictions and to represent the people of New Hampshire in the political process - the right reasons, most would say - and the thing that rocked him off his foundation was the colleagues who weren't, colleagues like Byron Bennett, a man who was living proof that ambition could be a four-letter word when ethics are compromised, morals are corrupted, and allegiances are soiled.

Jed had made an enemy of Bennett by fighting against a measure that would have supplied high school students with condoms as easily as a vending machine supplies sodas. Jed argued that while he supported safe sex campaigns and protection, handing them out as if they were dispensing candy in the cafeteria would send the wrong message to kids. He fought for a sex-ed class where condoms would be made available after educating the students, but when that plan was vetoed by his staff, he left Washington for a long weekend home to avoid signing his name to a bill that he couldn't endorse.

That move earned him Bennett's wrath and the minimum wage hike that Jed had been stumping for was unceremoniously kicked to the curb. But now, finally, Jed was ready to do what he had been planning to do for weeks - fight back and have his say. He started a brisk March morning with a staff meeting to strategize the agenda.

"Word is that Bennett is doing a photo ops in his district today, so we've got the all clear," he told them.

"Was this planned, Congressman?" Press Secretary Rick Page glanced up from his legal pad to ask that question.

"Bennett's absence? No, that was just pure luck. Samantha, I'm going to need to sit down with you to go over the talking points."

"Yes, sir. When is the radio response?"

"In two weeks."

It had started at the gala. Jed had maneuvered his way through the ballroom to collect support from his colleagues and later that evening, when Speaker O'Neill extended the invitation for him to be the official voice of the Democratic Party in response to the President's weekly radio address, he knew exactly how he was going to make it happen. With the party behind him, Jed wrangled the help he needed to draft and present a proposal on minimum wage on the floor of the House. The plan then was to let it stir in the press until after the radio address.

* * *

"That felt great!" Cruising back to the Rayburn House Office Building, Jed was grinning from ear to ear. "Did you see the look on Petrie's face? The man turned seven shades of red when he saw the army of congressmen ready to vote right then and there."

"It was quite the show." Michael couldn't help but be amused. "I almost wish we had called for a vote."

"Nah, it'll be better if we wait until the radio address is over. We'll get some public support and go in for the kill."

"Nothing turns a politician around more than angry constituents on the phone, that's for sure."

"Yeah. Listen, we're probably going to hear it from Bennett when he gets back tomorrow. Let me handle it, okay?"

"What makes you think his office won't call today?"

"They might, but who cares what they have to say? It's their boss who's going to be swearing and cursing and threatening to get back at me for not following committee procedure and protocol."

"As if you had a choice," Michael scoffed.

"I'll take it. I've got plenty of choice words myself for that pompous buffoon."

"You're going to enjoy giving it to him, aren't you?"

"You bet! Let me take the call."

"You've got yourself a deal."

They rounded the corner, picking up their pace towards Jed's congressional suite. When they arrived, Jed slowed himself slightly, caught by surprise to see Leo standing there waiting for him.

"Leo, I didn't know you were in town."

"Yeah, I got in late last night to look over some legislation for the agriculture committee."

"Do you know anything about agriculture?"

"About as much as you," Leo grinned.

"You forget, I live on a farm."

"A farm that's run entirely by farmhands. Once you start running the tractor and plowing the fields, we'll talk."

"Walk with me." Jed led him to the back office.

"I heard about Abbey..." Leo told him after Jed closed the door behind them. "...about the miscarriage. I'm sorry."

"Thanks."

"I wanted to send flowers, but I didn't know how they'd be received."

"Jenny sent flowers. She signed your name. And you should know that Abbey doesn't hold a grudge, Leo."

"I find that hard to believe. We didn't exactly leave things on good terms."

"Neither did you and I and yet, here we are." Jed wouldn't have believed it a year ago. The fact that he and Leo had managed to emerge from all the hostility shouted out during the intervention last fall was truly astonishing to him. They weren't back to being friends in the conventional sense of the term, but even the notion of speaking to one another was something that, months ago, seemed impossible. They were private men, both of them. They weren't the type to talk things out or weep about what happened. The past was the past and they were both comfortable allowing it to remain a distant memory, for now.

"Yes, sir, I guess that's true." Truth be told, Leo was still feeling a sliver of indignation about the intervention, though he did a good job of covering it up.

"Cut the 'sir' crap. I'm Jed. I've been Jed for 20 years, I'm still going to be Jed for another 20." He plopped down into his chair. "What's up?"

"I heard what you did out there. You bypassed committee. Risky."

"You already heard? It was 10 minutes ago."

"There are television sets every five yards and every single one of them is tuned to the goings-on on the House floor. It's not like you can keep something like this quiet around here. How'd Bennett react when you told him what you were doing?"

"I didn't."

"He didn't know about it at all?"

"No and I didn't bypass committee either. I amended the legislation slightly and we took a brand new committee vote about a half hour before the session. If Bennett happened to be out of town, well, that was his problem."

The right corner of Leo's lips curved into a lopsided smile. "That's gutsy."

"Gutsy good or gutsy bad?" Jed's turned his attention to his office receptionist knocking on the open door. "Yes?"

"Congressman Bennett's on the phone."

"You mean his aide?"

"It's not his aide, sir," Madeline replied. "It's him."

"Him? I thought he was working out of his district."

"Yes, sir. He's calling from his home."

Jed's joyful expression crumbled immediately. "So, Leo, gutsy good or gutsy bad?"

"With someone like Bennett?" Leo shrugged and looked on as Jed picked up the phone. "Guess we'll find out."

"Here we go." He was about to be reamed and he knew it. Facing the confrontation head-on, Jed played up his animosity towards the man as he lifted the receiver to his ear. "Congressman. The sun's still out in the Buckeye State. What are you doing out of your box?"

* * *

"The five stages of mitosis?"

"Mom, she's not gonna ask that."

"She might. It's cumulative."

"Which is stupid! I should be able to forget the information from one test when it's time to study for the next."

"You'll thank her come finals. Now come on. Give me the five stages of mitosis."

Back in New Hampshire, Abbey was giving Zoey her bath while quizzing Liz for her Biology test the next day. She and Jed had always been exceptionally good at multitasking, and since his move to Washington, Abbey had gotten even better at it as it was the only way she could spend time with her girls and at least try to run the house efficiently.

"Okay, okay, it's...um..." Liz paced the bathroom tile behind her mother who was hunched over the bathtub.

"Tick tock, tick tock."

Zoey giggled from the tub, then echoed her mom. "Tick tock, Lizzie. Time's almost up."

"Let me think!"

"Come on, Liz," Abbey prodded. "You knew this just a few weeks ago."

"A lot's happened in a few weeks. I needed to get all the old information out of my brain to make room for new things."

"Like what?"

"Like math equations. Did I mention I got an "A" on my math test?"

"You did and I'm very proud of you. Now give me the five stages of mitosis and we'll call it a night."

Liz stared up at the ceiling, squinting her eyes as if it would help her remember. "Prophase. Or interphase. It happens either last or first."

"That's not going to cut it. Did you even study?"

"Yes! I just hate Biology. It's useless!"

"It's not useless. Biology is the reason you're alive, the reason you grow, the reason you eat, the reason you talk and move the way you do. How can you not be interested in understanding it?" Abbey rubbed her hand over Zoey's head to clear the shampoo off her forehead before it ran into her eyes.

"I guess I just don't get it. It doesn't click for me the way it does for you."

"Fair enough. I'm not asking you to become a scientist. But you do have to learn it to pass your test, so why don't you take a look at your sheet and tell me the five stages of mitosis so I can help you remember them."

"Don't you already know them?"

"Yes, smarty pants, but you don't. So pick it up and read them off to me."

Liz did what she said. "Interphase, prophase, metaphase, anaphase, and telophase. Might as well be written in German."

"Hang on a second. We'll come up with a mnemonic."

"Mnemonics don't work."

"Of course they do. How about 'I'm probably as mad as a tiger'?"

"Is that the mnemonic you used to remember them in high school?"

"No, I just came up with it right now."

"That was fast."

"I'm used to it. You learn to come up with mnemonics pretty quickly in medical school."

"Mommy, did you like school?" Zoey asked.

"I did. I liked it from the first day of first grade and I never stopped liking it."

"Even kindergarten?"

"There was no kindergarten back then, sugar plum." Abbey rinsed the suds from the five-year-old's tiny body.

"Then how come I have to go to kindergarten?"

"Because some very smart people got together and decided that kids should start learning even earlier than they did when I was a little girl. You know why?"

"Why?"

"So they can be smarter than their parents." She was sure that would do the trick. Zoey knew she was starting kindergarten in the fall and she was full of questions about what it was like.

"Mom, I hate to tell you this," Liz began. "...but that particular mnemonic won't work. You gave me three a's when all I need is one. What else ya got?"

"It's fine. Sometimes, you have to sacrifice language to make it work."

"'I'm probably mad as tiger?' You can't reconstruct the English word."

Abbey looked back over her shoulder and smiled. "Sure I can. Just don't tell your father I did."

"How about 'I propose mending...' Liz paused, then sighed, defeated, "I don't know."

"Sweetheart, the point is to make memorization a quicker task. Don't stress over it."

"Okay. 'I'm probably mad as tiger' it is, even though it sounds so wrong. If I slip up and start talking without verbs from now on, I'm blaming you."

"Wouldn't surprise me if you did."

"You know, it is all coming back to me. The Biology, I mean."

"Good." Abbey retrieved a big fluffy towel and held it open for Zoey. "Put your paper down and answer another question."

Liz tossed her sheet onto the counter. "Shoot."

"Chromosomes lining up at the equator. Which phase is that?"

"Metaphase."

"Good job! Centrioles start to separate?"

"Telophase. No, wait! Anaphase."

"Is that your final answer?" Abbey questioned while lifting Zoey out of the tub.

"Yes.It's anaphase."

"You would be right. So what is it that happens in telophase?"

"Cytokinesis."

"Which is what?"

"The cytoplasm splits?" Liz's crinkled forehead showed her uncertainty.

"Splits into what?"

"Daughter cells." She was more confident this time.

"And each daughter cell contains...?"

"Chromosomes."

"How many?"

"Forty-six."

"And where do they come from originally?"

"Twenty-three from your mother and twenty-three from your father."

"And what happens to the daughter cells?"

"They go through another cycle."

"Of?"

"Mitosis."

"Starting with?"

"Interphase."

"And then?"

"Prophase."

"Which leads to?"

"Metaphase, anaphase, and telophase."

"YES!" Abbey high-fived the older girl. "Who says you're bad at Biology?"

Hooded below a towel, Zoey looked up at her sister through her damp eyelashes. "You're pretty smart, Lizzie."

"Yes, she is," Abbey agreed. "Pretty darn smart."

Liz, now glowing with confidence, replied, "Thanks!"

* * *

Jed returned to his apartment that evening, later than usual, but happier than he had been after a day of work in a very long time. He'd pushed through the volatile mid-day phone call with Bennett. It energized him, reminding him that there was a purpose to being in Washington. He had a duty and part of that duty was battling people so enraptured by raw power that they allowed their integrity to fall by the wayside and claim his constituents as their victim.

Fighting for minimum wage was the right thing to do, not only for the working class but for the economy in general. If he had to use underhanded tactics, so be it. He was proud of himself and he knew that Abbey would be proud as well. But before he could tell her his news, there was one more thing on his itinerary.

He picked up the phone and dialed.

At the farmhouse, Zoey wriggled from her mother's arms as Abbey tried to dry her off. She sprinted, wet and naked, towards the half-moon console in the hall to answer the phone.

"Daddy?"

Jed chuckled at her enthusiasm. "Now why is it that whenever I call, you're the one who comes running to the phone?"

"I love you more than Ellie and Lizzie," Zoey offered.

He laughed even harder when he heard Abbey in the background.

"ZOEY! Get back here!"

"Daddy's on the phone!"

Abbey walked up behind her youngest daughter to wrap her up in the towel. "Five minutes and then give the phone to Lizzie, put on your PJs, and meet me downstairs. Tell Daddy I'm picking up the extension in the family room."

* * *

"I can do it," Ellie whispered to herself. "I know I can do it."

There she was in the family room, nervously anticipating the dress rehearsal Abbey had arranged. She wasn't worried about performing her science fair presentation in front of her parents and sisters; it was the fear of doing it live for the judges the next day at school that had her stomach tied in knots. Ellie's shyness was no secret. She hated the spotlight and she avoided attention. Public speaking was Liz's thing, a talent inherited from both her parents. Ellie was more reserved, more private. Her anxiety rose with just the mention of presentations. So why had she agreed to this, she wondered silently.

"Ellie, can you do it without the report?" Abbey asked as she moved to the sofa in front of her daughter.

"You mean without holding it?"

"Yeah."

"Well..." Ellie flipped through the pages. "I wanted to catch myself up in case I lost my place."

"You know this report like the back of your hand." The voice of dear old dad echoed over the speaker phone. "Give it a whirl without it and see what happens."

"But..."

Abbey quickly interjected, "If she's more comfortable holding it, it's okay, Jed."

"I was piggybacking on your suggestion."

"I know, but she looks uneasy about it."

There was no denying that. Ellie was certain she looked uneasy because she definitely felt uneasy. If it wasn't for the fact that her mother had worked with her for weeks to help her prepare, she would have thrown in the towel right then and there. But she couldn't give up, not without giving it her best shot. That was the promise she made - to herself and to her parents.

"What's going on over there?" Jed was growing impatient over the phone.

"GIRLS?" Abbey shouted for Liz and Zoey.

"What?" Liz strolled in first.

"Where's your sister?"

"She's coming."

"I'm here!" Zoey, now dressed in her pajamas, jogged in and hopped up on the sofa.

"Are we all here now?"

"Yes, we're all here," Abbey answered her husband.

"Let's get this show on the road. Ellie, the floor is yours."

Ellie scanned the faces of her mother and sisters, looked briefly at the speaker phone where her father was listening to every word, then started her speech.

"Hi, I'm Ellie Bartlet and I did my project on how rocket design affects performance."

She couldn't see his face, but Jed was positively beaming. Ellie wasn't just smart, she was creative. It would have been easy to follow the lead of her classmates and come up with a report that paralleled her level of education. That isn't what she did though. She challenged herself and created a project so intriguing that her teacher raved about it for weeks. From conception to execution, this was her work and if she needed a little help getting over the jitters of presenting it, so what? Jed was willing to do whatever it took to guarantee his little girl's project got the recognition it deserved.

"Perfect," he told her after she introduced the first of three rockets she had built. "Your speech is clear, your information is thorough, you're enthusiastic about it. That was excellent. Abbey?"

"I agree. You're doing great so far. Ready to move on to the next part?"

The support put Ellie at ease. She knew this would be nothing like presenting to strangers, but at least it was a trial run and if nothing else, it would help bolster her self-esteem before final judging.

"For my next rocket..." The fifth grader paused when she saw Zoey's hand fly up. "Yes, Zoey?"

"Can I wear your black headband to school tomorrow?"

"Zoey, why are you asking me that now?"

"You said I should ask questions."

"About the rockets!"

"But I don't know anything about the rockets!"

"That's why I'm trying to teach you," Ellie said. "Mom?"

Abbey lifted Zoey up and sat her on her lap. "Tell you what, Zoey. Next question I have, you can ask for me. Deal?"

"Deal!" Zoey looked over at her sister. "Go ahead, Ellie. I'm listening."

"You're sure?"

"Yeah."

"I am too, El," Liz assured her.

"What do you think so far? Does it sound like I'm nervous?" Ellie braced herself. Liz's opinion was very important to her.

"Not at all. You sound like a pro."

"Really?"

"Really."

Abbey could see the relief on Ellie's face. She calmed herself instantly after Liz's vote of confidence and in the silence that followed, she straightened her posture and prepared to continue.

"What's going on?" Frustrated at not being able to see what was happening, Jed seemed to need constant narration.

"I'm ready to start again," Ellie told him.

"Let's hear it."

She cleared her voice and began. "For my second rocket, I compared the forces in flight, weight, spin, thrust, drag, and lift. I also paid attention to center of gravity which is very important for rocket performance..."

TBC


	32. Chapter 32

Series: Snapshots of the Past

Series: Snapshots of the Past

Story: Man of the House

Chapter 32

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Previously: Abbey helped Liz prepare for her Biology exam; the whole family gathered together (with Jed on the speaker phone) for a trial run of Ellie's science fair presentation

Summary: Abbey has her work cut out for her as she deals with Liz and Ellie's self doubts

* * *

Stretched out on her stomach on her bed, Elizabeth clutched her alarm clock as she counted down the seconds until the big hand reached the twelve. Her fingers tapped along with the tick-tock rhythm for 45 agonizing seconds until it finally buzzed, and with no small amount of hesitation, she tossed it onto her nightstand, then snatched the phone off its cradle.

"I'm SEVENTEEN!" she shouted, dipping the receiver below her chin when Abbey opened her bedroom door. "Sorry."

"It's midnight."

"Tori called."

"Tell Tori it's late and you need to go to bed."

With a disgruntled teenage sigh, Liz decided it was better to end her call than risk an argument Abbey was sure to win. "Tori, I've gotta go. I'll see you tomorrow...yeah..." She glared at her mother "...she's making me go to school..."

Abbey snickered at that. No one was better than Liz at trying to weasel her way out of school. She'd entertained her parents with all sorts of excuses since middle school, but Jed and Abbey never fell for it. All the phony fevers, sore throats, coughs, and stomach aches her friends got away with only landed Liz in trouble for lying. Nothing was worse than having a doctor for a mother, she decided, so in recent years, she abandoned those schemes and tried to reason her way to an absence.

This time, she claimed her looming Biology test had the potential to devastate the festivities surrounding her birthday. Her speech, complete with a melodramatic dose of tears fit for a true drama queen, earned her a good-hearted chuckle from Abbey and a shot of Jed's playful ribbing.

"You used to like going to school on your birthday," Abbey reminded her after she hung up phone.

"Back when I was Ellie's age and you'd bake cupcakes for my whole class."

"You want cupcakes tomorrow?"

"Mom, be serious." Liz fluffed her pillow and laid back while Abbey untangled the covers at her feet.

"I seem to remember last year you got all kinds of balloons and gifts from your friends."

"Last year, I didn't have a Bio test," she countered.

"More often than not, the anticipation of something is worse than the real thing. You're going to clobber that test."

"What if I don't?"

"You will."

"Mom!" Liz emphatically argued, "What if I don't?"

"Then you don't. You studied, I quizzed you, you're ready. If something goes wrong, I'm not going to be mad."

"But I will be. It's going to ruin the whole day."

"Elizabeth..."

"Mom, I don't think you realize how close I am to tarnishing my GPA this year. If I don't get into the college I want, it's all going to be because of Biology. So go ahead, make fun of me, laugh at me, whatever, I don't care. It matters to me."

"I'm not going to laugh at you, sweetheart." Abbey had a little more sympathy this time. She sat at the edge of Liz's bed and stroked her pretty chestnut hair. "And I'm sorry I did before. I didn't know you were taking it so seriously."

"I am. It's important."

"Your dad still grumbles about the only B on his college transcript."

"In Organic Chemistry." Liz had heard that story before. "Science sucks!"

"I never expected you to be perfect, Lizzie. All I've ever wanted from you is to try your best and graduate high school having learned enough to make you a well-read, well-rounded adult, ready to start college. Why are you putting all this pressure on yourself?"

"Because it's important to me, just like it was for you and Dad. Don't tell me you didn't agonize over your grades once in a while when you were my age."

"Of course I did. But I also accepted that you can't win them all. The best thing that happened to me was getting a B in English Lit my freshman year in high school."

"Why?"

"Because I never worried about 'tarnishing' my perfect GPA after that. I did my best, graduated - with honors - and had no trouble getting into college. Would you kill me I wished the same for you?"

"You'd wish a B on me?"

Amused by her dramatic inflection, Abbey chuckled. "It's not a death sentence! But no, that isn't what I meant. What I wish is that somehow you'd learn that grades aren't a reflection of intellect and that you don't have to ace every test to get into the college of your choice."

"I'm not worried about getting a B on my test. I've gotten plenty of B's on tests and assignments before. This time, I'd be THRILLED with a B. The thing is, I think I could actually fail this thing."

"Now you're talking nonsense. You've never failed a test in your life."

"I've never been so far out of my comfort zone before. My teacher is awful. The questions she asks are totally alien to me. I read them over and over again and it never helps...I still have no idea what concept I'm supposed to draw on!"

"They're called critical thinking tests for a reason."

"But I can't think critically...not about Biology! Mom, this class is so hard, you don't understand."

"Sweetheart, I do understand. I've had difficult teachers before. As long as you do what it's expected of you, it'll all work out. You'll see."

"I don't believe that."

"You don't have to believe it. It'll happen anyway."

"If I get an F, I'll probably end up with a C in the course."

"You know too much to get an F. The cell cycle alone will get you up to a D."

"Like that's a big improvement!"

"I was making a point. Knock it off with these doomsday scenarios running rampant in your mind. You're a smart young lady, Liz. You're much smarter than I was at your age. No matter what your teacher throws at you, you can handle it."

"How do you know?"

"Mom's know all. Now come on. This will all play out in the morning. Right now, you need your sleep."

"Does it have to play out on my birthday? Can't I just put it off?"

"No. I'll tell you what, though, you go to school, take your Biology test, and when I get home from work, I'll take you out to dinner."

Liz caught on to that clever little bribe. "You were gonna do that anyway."

"Well, now it's confirmed." Abbey tucked her blanket around her, brushed the hair off her forehead, and gave her a goodnight kiss. "Happy Birthday, Baby Doll."

* * *

"Can I help?" Dressed in her PJs and a pair of pink My Little Pony slippers, Zoey padded her way to the kitchen counter to see what Abbey was baking.

"Only if you ask correctly."

"MAY I help?"

Abbey smiled at her. "Did you wash your hands?"

"Uh huh. See?" Zoey held out her palms.

"Good job!" Abbey slid the step stool close enough for Zoey to climb up so she could show her how to knead the dough. "Do just what I'm doing."

Zoey dug right in, firm but gentle, mimicking her mother's actions. "Like this?"

"You got it!"

"What are we making?"

"Lizzie's favorite - cranberry scones."

Their cheery morning voices, heard all the way across the house, prompted Ellie to charge down the stairs and head directly to the kitchen. "Mmmmmm, I love scones! I wish we could have a birthday every day."

"Is Liz still talking to Grandma?" Abbey asked.

"Not anymore. She's talking to Dad now. She's been hogging the phone all morning."

"He didn't tell her, did he?"

"I don't think so. He wants it to be a surprise."

Since the Bartlet family party was scheduled for the weekend, Liz thought that Jed wasn't planning to come home until the following afternoon to see the science fair exhibit at Ellie's school. She didn't know he had rearranged his schedule to make it home a day earlier so he could also share her birthday with her.

"So..." Abbey glanced up at Ellie as she started cutting the dough. "Are you ready for your presentation?"

"I guess."

"Still nervous?"

"I couldn't even sleep last night." Ellie poured herself a glass of milk.

"Don't be nervous, Ellie," Zoey said, quite a bit of optimism in her voice. "You're gonna be the best one in the whole school!"

"Thanks, Zo, but I'm not so sure."

Perplexed by Ellie's lingering self-doubt, Abbey questioned her. "What's with that attitude? I thought we talked about this."

Ellie shrugged. "I don't have as much faith in me as she does."

Abbey wiped her hands on a dishtowel, then grabbed Ellie's arms to turn her around and get her attention. "You did a spectacular job last night. There's no question in my mind that you're going to walk into that gymnasium today and blow those judges away!"

"It's not that easy."

"No, it's not. If it were, everyone would do it."

"Mom, you don't understand. It's..." Ellie wiggled her arms out of her mother's grip.

"That's a popular line around here lately. I don't know what it is about you girls that you never think I understand what you're going through." Ellie's situation was different from Liz's, Abbey acknowledged that. But she hadn't yet accepted that while she was sympathetic when it came to Ellie's problem, she didn't truly understand. She couldn't, for she had never battled the challenge that Ellie was facing.

"I just mean..."

"What?"

Ellie could have told her that her stomach was doing flip-flops, that she was so terrified that she was considering dropping out of the science fair or skipping school altogether. But Abbey's expression held such hope that she was scared of disappointing her. She couldn't bring herself to admit what a mess she was on the inside.

"I'm just not comfortable with the whole thing," she said.

"Ellie, your teacher specifically asked for you. What does that tell you?"

"That she liked my project."

"That's right. And we're talking about a woman who's been a teacher for very a long time. She's seen every project out there - the best of the best and the worst of the worst. She liked yours, sweetheart. She not only liked it, she raved about it."

"I know."

"She thinks you can do this. Your dad and I think you can do this. Your sisters think you can do this. The only person who doesn't think you can do this is you, you silly goose." Abbey tweaked her nose.

Ellie laughed. "Mom."

"There's a reason we all have faith in you."

"But I don't have faith in me. Doesn't that matter?"

"Ordinarily, it would, but this time, I have enough faith for all of us. You're gonna knock 'em dead today, no question."

"You think they'll like me?"

"Do I think they'll like you?" Abbey jokingly mocked her. "I think they're gonna LOVE you! In fact, I think you're going to be the star of the school, the best presenter up there!"

"You do? For real?" Ellie could always count on her mom to give her back her confidence.

"Would I lie to you?" Abbey ran a finger through Ellie's curls. "Now I don't want to hear any more of this negativity, got it?"

"Yeah."

"Good." She gave her daughter a supportive squeeze, then said, "Now scoot. Get your books together for school."

"Can you get Lizzie off the phone so I can say hi to Dad?"

"I'll do my best. Which one of you wants to run up there and hurry her along?"

Zoey eagerly raised her hand to volunteer. "I'll go!"

"All right, Zoey, get on up there." As the five-year-old dashed out of the kitchen, Abbey stuffed the baking sheet into the oven and then picked up the phone. "Elizabeth, this is your 5-minute warning."

"I'm talking to Dad."

"You're going to be late for school."

"What a shame that'll be," Liz quipped. "I might miss my test first period and all because my father, whom I rarely get to see these days, called to wish me a happy birthday. I doubt any reasonable teacher would hold that against me. These are extraordinary circumstances, after all."

That kind of manipulation never worked in favor of the Bartlet girls.

"Missing your test doesn't mean you're out of the woods," Abbey assured her. "I'm perfectly capable of ruining your weekend by administering a Biology test over the material you were expected to learn and believe me, my test won't be nearly as elementary as your teacher's is likely to be."

Jed chuckled on the line. "I'd take her seriously, Lizzie. The last thing you want to do is take a Dr. Bartlet Biology test."

"Mom..."

"No excuses." Abbey interrupted her before she could plead her case once more. "Zoey's coming up to get you off the phone and into some school clothes."

"Mrs. Wilburforce never rushes me."

"Mrs. Wilburforce is off today. I want you off the phone in three minutes."

"I thought it was five!"

"That was before you reminded me you have a test first period."

"Dad..."

"Don't look at me," Jed replied, quick to declare he wouldn't undercut Abbey. "You zapped yourself with that one, hon. Go get ready for school."

"I hate Biology!"

"Liiiiiizzzzzziiiiiiieeeee! I'm here to help you get ready!"

Liz rolled her eyes at Zoey's sugary tone as she plopped down on her bed and pulled the covers over her eyes, leaving only the phone cord exposed from under her sheets.

* * *

For the first hour of the elementary school science fair, Ellie took her mother's words to heart. She was relaxed, joyful, and excited - the perfect hostess, it seemed to all the kids who toured her station. All day long, teachers waited their turn to take their students to the gym to see the projects and learn from their peers, and with most of her visitors, Ellie felt like she was in her element. No one asked too many questions. No one expected an oral report. It was perfect, she thought.

But then, as the afternoon drew to a close, the panel of judges made their rounds and suddenly, Ellie's fun and charming personality disappeared and her stature faded into a more reserved demeanor. The butterflies were back. She felt nauseous and scared. Her hands were sweaty, her cheeks flushed, and despite the fact that she tried to stop it, she could feel her anxiety rising inside her. Still, she went on, calming herself with a series of deep breaths the way Abbey had taught her.

She was initially quizzed on the basic theory of her project. That wasn't too bad. Answering their simple questions was easier than she thought it would be, thanks to the family dress rehearsal the night before. But when it came time to officially present her work to the roving critics and a crowd of fifth and sixth graders who had gathered around to listen, it proved to be a little more difficult.

She felt hot. Dizzy. Her fingers trembled so noticeably that from across the aisle, Ms. Allen spotted her star student having trouble. She rushed to Ellie's station, rescuing the fifth grader for a five-minute reprieve in the girl's room.

"How do you feel?" Ms. Allen pressed a damp paper towel to Ellie's forehead.

"Not so great. I'm sorry, Ms. Allen. I'm just nervous. I don't know how to get over it."

"You have nothing to be sorry about. The judges like what they see so far, I can tell. All you have to do is teach them about it."

"But I can't. I'm gonna forget what to say, I'm gonna stutter, I'm gonna leave stuff out and then I'll lose my place. I'll...I'll mess it up, I know I will. Can't they just read my report?"

"No, letting them read it isn't the same as presenting it. You won't get credit for that."

"I don't care about the stupid contest!"

"Ellie, you worked so hard for this. You don't have to recite anything. You know what you did and why you did it. Just tell them that."

"I hate this," Ellie groaned, her lips tight with frustration.

"Sweetie, you're not alone. I've known so many boys and girls who were just as terrified as you about public speaking. Some even worse. And when they were finally able to get up there and face their fears, they felt so much better, like they had really accomplished something."

"Have you ever known someone who couldn't do it?"

"Unfortunately, yes. But you're not that person, Ellie. You're too bright to let this hold you back. I know you can do this."

"I wish my mom was here. I wish I could talk to her for just a minute."

"What would she say to you if she was here?"

"I don't know, but she'd make me feel better. She always does."

"Imagine her here then. Imagine her standing right where I am. Pretend that's her, staring back at you just as proud as ever. Can you do that? Will that make it easier?"

"I don't think so."

"Ellie, honey, I want to help you. Tell me what to do."

"I just want my mom."

Ms. Allen swiped the tear that fell from Ellie's lash. "Oh, Ellie. What if I stand beside you? I'll hold your hand the whole time? How about that?"

"I don't think I can."

"Okay. If you don't want to go out there, you don't have to. I'll explain it to the judges."

It was tempting. Ellie seriously considered bailing, but then she remembered the dress rehearsal the night before, the pride in her father's voice when he cheered her on over the speaker phone. She remembered the look in her mother's eyes that morning. They were counting on her. Going back home to tell them that she chickened out, in some ways, seemed harder than facing the judges.

Hesitantly, the scared young girl looked up at her teacher to ask, "Will you hold my hand?"

"I promise."

"I guess I could try."

"That's all you have to do. Just try."

Ellie nodded, steeling herself against her nerves as she took another deep breath and prepared to go back out there and give it one more shot.

TBC


	33. Chapter 33

Series: Snapshots of the Past

Series: Snapshots of the Past

Story: Man of the House

Chapter 33

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Previously: Liz dreaded taking her Biology test on her birthday; with the help of her teacher, Ellie talked herself through a panic attack to face the judges at the science fair

Summary: Liz faces her former best friend; Ellie announces her first place win at the science fair; after a birthday dinner, Liz gets a big surprise; Jed and Abbey share their thoughts about their eldest daughter

* * *

Liz thought she was having a pretty good day. She hadn't aced her Biology test, but she hadn't failed it either. She'd answered enough questions correctly that she confidently predicted a B and now that it was finally over, she could look forward to a birthday celebration dinner with her family without a black cloud hanging overhead.

Or so she thought.

A half dozen mylar balloons in her hands and a backpack stuffed with birthday trinkets from her school friends on her back, she walked briskly towards the farmhouse that afternoon, stopping just short of the front steps when she noticed an unexpected visitor waiting for her.

Her former best friend, Mindy, played with the golden bow on the gift-wrapped present in her hands. Liz cringed at the sight. Dealing with Mindy was the last thing she wanted to do today. She thought about turning around and avoiding the encounter altogether, but Abbey's words from the night before echoed in her mind and she decided to put her theory to the test - could anticipation be worse than reality when it came to confronting her rival?

She approached timidly. "Occasionally," she started, "my mom activates the land mines to keep people off the property."

"Very funny." Mindy showed no emotion.

"Mindy, what are you doing here?" Liz refused the gift she tried to give her. "I told you at school I didn't want it. Wasn't that a clue?"

"I thought you'd be more reasonable if I stopped by."

"You thought I'd be reasonable? You went out with my boyfriend 30 seconds after he dumped me. You stood there while he humiliated me in front of everyone and then you latched onto his arm and strolled off into the sunset. What made you think reasonable was a possibility?"

"Fine. I deserve that."

"And more," Liz scoffed as she dodged Mindy and climbed a step higher, "Do us both a favor and go home."

"Liz, I'm sorry I ever went out with him. Scott was a mistake."

"So you finally woke up and realized he was a mistake. Great! You want a cookie?"

"Forget it. I didn't come here to fight, which is exactly what you seem to want to do." Mindy began to leave.

"You screwed me over! How do you expect me to react?" Liz saw a bit of vulnerability play out on Mindy's face. She softened her tone then. "You slept with him, didn't you?" The silence she received answered her question. "I told you he tried to sleep with me days before he broke up with me. God, Mindy, didn't you realize the only thing he wanted was a roll in the sack?"

"Don't judge me, Liz! You're not going to say anything I haven't said to myself a hundred times over. Yes, I slept with him. And then he dumped me. You were right. Does that make you feel better?" Mindy's voice broke as her eyes pooled with tears.

"No." Liz handed her a tissue. "I'm not that heartless."

The troubled girl found a spark of hope in that gesture. "What can I say to make you forgive me?"

"Is that why you came by? To find a friend?"

"I was hoping we could talk. I miss you."

"I'm sorry you got hurt, but you and me bonding over this isn't going to happen. I can't open up to you."

"Why not?"

"Because Scott broke my heart. You trampled it. I can't put myself in that position again."

"I'll never treat you that way again..."

"Save it, Mindy. I'm don't trust you. You see, what he did was bad enough. What you did was worse because you were my best friend. You were supposed to stick up for me and stand beside me. You were supposed to let me cry on your shoulder and tell me that there's another guy out there who's going to treat me the way I deserve to be treated. You were supposed to hang out with me and let me vent about what a jerk he was and how stupid I was to fall for him. I would've done that for you."

"Just goes to show, you were always a better friend than I was. If anyone can forgive what I did, it's you."

Liz shook her head. "You're asking too much."

"Why can't we go back to how things used to be? Just forget the past few months and go back to how things were before either of us met Scott."

"No, Mindy, I can't pretend."

"You're just as torn up about everything as I am. Why can't we help each other get through it, the way we always did?"

"Because back then, whenever something awful happened, you were the one I turned to. And now, I'll never forget that this time, the awful thing that happened was you. That still stings...you know? It's too soon for some grand gesture of forgiveness."

The former friends stared silently at each other for a solid minute until Mindy eventually realized there was nothing more she could say to change Liz's mind. With a deep breath, she retrieved her car keys from her pocket.

"Fine." She conceded calmly, slipping her gift into Liz's hand. "I had to try. I'll leave you alone from now on."

As she stormed towards her car, Liz called after her. "Wait! Take this back."

"I bought it for you."

"I don't think it's right to keep it under the circumstances."

"Then give it away. I can't return it. It's inscribed."

Liz watched Mindy back out of the driveway, then went into the house where she slid the bow off the gift and tore apart the paper. She lifted a silver picture frame from its box, a wave of emotion hitting her at the photo of her and Mindy, arms linked, on their first day of high school. The date and the words "best friends" was engraved across the top.

* * *

At dinner that night, Liz told her mother and sisters about her run-in with Mindy. "Tori said she would have decked her as soon as she saw her."

"Yeah, well, I'm glad you didn't," Abbey replied.

"I am too, even if she deserved it," Ellie added.

"Ellie."

"I know, 'there's never a good reason to hit someone,'" the fifth-grader said, parroting the words of wisdom her parents had ingrained in her head.

"That's right, there isn't."

"It just makes me mad that she treated Lizzie so badly and then wants to make up like nothing ever happened." If there was one thing that could stir the normally demure Ellie, it was someone betraying a member of her family. She was protective of them all, especially her sisters.

"It makes me mad too!" Zoey joined in the outrage more out of a need to support her sister than indignation at a situation she didn't completely understand.

Touched by their loyalty, Liz calmed the waters. "It's okay, El. In a way, I'm glad she came over."

"You are?"

"Yeah. It makes me think she has a conscious after all. Seeing her feel bad about what she did kinda put a period on the whole thing and knowing that she regrets it...that gave me some satisfaction. I mean, as bad as it was that she betrayed me, the part that really had me seething was that she didn't even care she did it. She didn't care about my feelings or that she hurt me. But now I think that maybe she did, at least a little."

"Are you considering giving her another chance?" Abbey didn't ordinarily dictate Liz's friends, but she had to admit she'd have trouble watching her daughter welcome Mindy back into her life. She struggled to keep her objection to herself, to not point out to Liz that Mindy's change of heart only came after Scott had left her. Eventually, she'd tell her how she felt, but tonight - on her birthday - Liz deserved to be happy.

"No way, I'll never trust her," she quickly answered, putting Abbey's concern to rest. "It just feels good not to carry around so much anger. I feel like I can move on now. I couldn't do that before because I couldn't get rid of the feeling that I never even knew her, that she had me fooled all this time, that she was never really my friend and that I was too naive to know it. Hearing her call what she did a mistake was..."

"Cathartic?"

"I guess."

Proud of the way Liz had risen above the betrayal and was now willing to let go of her hurt without a vengeful thought in her head, Abbey reached across the table and stroked her hand. "In that case, I'm glad she came over too."

From her vantage point, Abbey saw Jed tiptoeing towards the table. He cued her to keep quiet by pressing a finger to his lips as he snuck up behind Liz. Abbey sat back in silence, waiting and hoping that he'd announce his arrival in whatever way he had planned before Zoey, who was sitting right next to her, outed him.

Jed tugged gently on Liz's ponytail, then disappeared to her other side. "Did someone forget to send me a party invitation?"

"DAD!" The birthday girl leapt to her feet to hug her father, followed by an excited Zoey.

"Happy Birthday, angel."

"I thought you weren't coming until tomorrow."

"You thought wrong. How many chances am I going to have to see my little girl turn 17?" Jed gave her a kiss to her cheek.

"I'm so happy you're here."

"Not as happy as I am." He waited for a lull in the greetings from his eldest and youngest daughters before he turned his eye to Ellie, the quiet one who waited patiently for her sisters instead of getting in their way. "Am I looking at a science fair winner?"

Ellie nodded and gestured to the blue ribbon she had pinned to her purse. "FIRST PLACE! See my ribbon?"

"I knew you could do it!" Jed hugged her so tight that he lifted her off the ground. "First place! How does it feel?"

"Really, really good. But I just won for the fifth grade. At parent's night tomorrow, they're gonna announce the winner for the whole school and Ms. Allen thinks I could win that too! You're still coming, right?"

"A stampede of elephants couldn't keep me away."

Ellie didn't bother to tell him how difficult her day had been. Jed had no idea that the presentation induced such terror inside her that she had a panic attack in the bathroom. The veil of ignorance that protected him from opening his eyes to see and acknowledge her phobia was a blessing, she thought. She won her grade's science fair and made him proud. That was all that mattered.

After Ellie reclaimed her seat, Jed gave Abbey a kiss hello and took the vacant chair beside her. Her hand slipped to his and their fingers locked instinctively for the next several minutes as they both scanned her menu to order their meal.

"Mommy, can I have pizza?" Zoey asked.

"I told you pizza isn't on the menu, sweetheart. How about some spaghetti?"

"I don't like pasghetti."

Jed immediately countered that little fib. "You love spaghetti."

"Not anymore."

"Since when?"

Meanwhile, Ellie prodded Abbey with a question of her own. "Mom, can we give Liz our present?"

"Another one?" Liz was already surprised that Abbey allowed her to open one gift before they left the house. The purple sweater dress she was wearing was knee-length with one side slightly off the shoulder. A fat black belt crossed her hips, forcing the fabric to dip to show off her waist in a way that was both flattering and appropriate for a girl her age. A pair of black leggings and ankle boots completed the outfit.

"The dress was from Mom. Zoey and I got you something else, but we wanted to wait to give you ours."

From across the table, Jed barged in to that exchange. "By the way, Lizzie, your mom told you I picked out that dress, right?"

"Lying to your child is a sin, Bartlet." Cocking a brow at her husband, Abbey sipped a glass of water. Clothing had been a constant battle between mother and daughter and this was the first time since her preteen years that Liz actually liked something Abbey chose for her.

"Spoil sport," he grinned.

"DADDY!" An impatient Zoey was even more peeved now.

"What?"

"I want pizza," she insisted, her head tilted to the side and her big green eyes appealing to her father's soft spot. "Can we go somewhere else? Please?"

"You know the rules. It's Lizzie's birthday; it's her choice where we eat."

"Lizzie?"

"I don't think so, Zo."

"Pllllleeeeeeeaaaaaaassssssseeeee?"

"Zoey, knock it off." Abbey had the patience of a saint, but one thing she never stood for was whining in a restaurant. "We already talked about this. You can have pizza some other night."

Zoey folded her arms over her chest and sulked.

"So can we, Mom?" Ellie nudged.

"Yeah, go ahead."

"Hang on, Ellie." Jed retrieved a long, slender present out of his jacket pocket. "Mind if I go first?" When she said she didn't, he handed Liz his gift. "Now this one really is from me."

"Ooohh, can I open it now?" Liz waited for her father's approval, then ripped the paper apart and pulled out a sterling silver charm bracelet that Jed helped her clasp around her wrist. "Thanks! I love it!"

While the teen admired her new bracelet, Abbey tried to smooth things over with Zoey by inching herself closer and lowering her menu so they could pick something from the children's section.

"You want some macaroni and cheese?" she asked. Zoey shook her head. "A grilled cheese sandwich?" Another shake of the head. "What do you feel like?"

"Pizza."

"Besides pizza?"

"I'm not hungry."

"I'm not all that hungry myself," Abbey lied to placate the little girl. "How about you and I get something together?"

"To share?"

"Yup! What do you say?"

"Okay." It worked. Eating with Mom was definitely better than ordering for herself.

"I'm craving ravioli. What do you think?" Zoey shrugged this time. "Is that a yes?"

"Yes."

"And for dessert, how about big cup of jello?"

"I like jello!" Finally, some enthusiasm.

"Before you get your jello, you have to eat your dinner. Are you sure you like ravioli?" Abbey knew she did. It was just a question of whether or not she'd admit it.

"Uh huh, as long as we share!" And with a big, vibrant smile, it was obvious the five-year-old was over her pizza tantrum.

On the other end, Jed had cleared the table of wrapping paper and turned the floor over to an antsy Ellie. The ten-year-old glanced at her little sister to get her attention, then handed Liz a gift bag overstuffed with tissue paper.

"You realize I'm not going to have anything to open at the family party this weekend?"

"Knowing your grandparents, I highly doubt that," Jed assured her. Despite their denials, James and Mary often spoiled the girls, especially on their birthdays.

"Ooohhh, it's so pretty." Wide-eyed, Liz reached into the bag and pulled out a burgundy-brown soft leather-bound diary.

"Look at the bottom!" Zoey told her.

She ran her fingers over her initials - EAB - embossed on the bottom right hand corner and then looked back up, gratitude written all over her face. As beautiful as it was, what pleased her even more was the lock on the front with an attached key that belonged only to her. It wasn't just the gift Liz appreciated, it was the thought. Zoey and Ellie had promised they'd never go snooping in her room again and this was the gesture they hoped would earn back their sister's trust.

* * *

"I can't find my keys. Liz?" Abbey rummaged through her leather tote purse in the parking lot after dinner.

"I gave them to you as soon as I parked the car, remember?"

"Are you sure you gave them to me?"

"Yes, Mom. I saw you put them in your purse."

"Well, they're not here now."

"Like you'd ever be able to tell with all the crap you have in there." Jed often teased Abbey about how much stuff she lugged around with her. She called it being organized. He called it being obsessive-compulsive. "Tell me something, why do you have three different kinds of band-aids?"

Abbey smacked his hand. "Leave them in there!"

"You want to find your keys or not?"

"Lizzie, could you check your purse?"

"Mom, I'm sure I gave them to you."

"Please?"

"Fine, I'll check." Grumbling, Liz unzipped her purse.

"Thank you."

Since Jed had taken a cab from the airport to the restaurant, Liz thought, he was going to ride back to the house with the family. She didn't know this missing-key scenario had been staged by her parents so that when she inevitably looked inside her purse, she'd pull out the keys Jed had slipped in there at dinner.

"Wait a second." Liz held up a keychain she didn't recognize. "What are these?"

"Hmm, that's a mystery. Could it be..." Jed made a show of scanning the parking lot until his eyes rested on a silver car a dozen spaces out in the distance. A big red ribbon spanned the hood. "I wonder if those belong to that car over there."

Liz bolted from her spot and Ellie and Zoey followed her lead, just as excited as she was. Jed and Abbey had kept the car a secret from them for fear that Zoey's loose lips would give it all away. They strolled behind their daughters, both donning great big smiles with their arms wrapped around one another's waist.

"It's mine? Seriously?" Liz ran her hands up and down the Chevy Cavalier sedan.

"All yours," Jed told her.

The teen looked to her mother next. She hadn't driven alone since getting that speeding ticket two months earlier. "Can I drive it by myself?"

"Yeah." Abbey had barely answered the question when Liz nearly jumped over her to get to Ellie and Zoey. "Hey, hey, hey, hang on a second." Abbey grabbed her by the arm and looked her squarely in the eye. "If I hear about any foolishness in this car..."

"You won't."

"Liz, if I do, your keys are mine for as long as you live at home."

"I PROMISE, I'll be the safest driver on the face of the earth!" Liz embraced Abbey with one arm and reached out to Jed with the other. "THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! You guys are the best parents in the whole world!"

"You hear that, Babe? And all we had to do was buy her a car."

"Dad!" Liz opened the driver's side door to get in. Looking over at her sisters, she asked, "You two wanna ride with me back to the house?"

"YEAH!" they both replied as they started for the backseat.

Abbey joined them to get Zoey buckled up. "You listen to Lizzie, okay? Both of you."

"Hang on." Jed leaned over Liz's door. "Are you forgetting something?"

"What?"

"We had a deal. You were supposed to work last summer and pay for half the price of your car. You owe me..." He glanced at Abbey. "How much did we spend on this thing?"

"You're making me pay for my own birthday present?"

"You betcha!" He held out his hand.

Liz slapped his palm the way he always did when she asked for money. "We're settled."

"No, no, no. You owe me a monthly fee."

Her tone sharp with suspicion, she called his bluff. "You're messing with me."

The accusation broke his solid expression and he asked, with a loving glint in his eye, "The money you earned is in the bank?"

"Safe and sound, collecting interest for college."

He gave her his nod of approval. "Go enjoy your new car."

"Thanks!" Through her open window, Liz blew her parents a kiss. "See you at home!" She buckled up, then lifted her leg in a move that had Jed scrambling towards the car when she pretended to slam on the gas. She turned her mischievous blue eyes in her father's direction and said, "Just kidding."

"That car's in my name, little girl. I can take it away whenever I want. You remember that."

Liz cheerfully dismissed the warning and rolled up her window, shouting, "Bye, Dad!" as she backed out of the parking space and headed towards the exit.

Once she took off, slow enough that Jed could breathe a sigh of relief, he looked over at Abbey. "Well?"

"Let's go home," she said.

"Now?"

"When?"

"I don't know, I was hoping we could wait until Lizzie's off the road." He smirked at her, then changed his expression almost instantly. Serious now, he asked, "Are you worried?"

"About her driving?" That was a given when it came to Abbey. "I always worry. But I trust her. I don't think we'll see another speeding ticket in her future, at least not for a very long time. I wouldn't have agreed to the car if I didn't think she'd learned her lesson."

"That's what you said last week."

"I meant it. I feel better about her driving now than I did when she got her license, Jed. It's a blessing she didn't make enough to buy herself a car last summer. I don't think she was ready for one."

"What makes you so sure she is now?"

Abbey replied boldly, "She's matured quite a bit in the past few months."

"How?"

"I can't really pinpoint it to any one thing, but ever since you've been away, there's something different about her and it's not just because she's been helping out around the house and with her sisters. It's something else. She's not the same girl she was before."

"I liked who she was before."

"So did I. And the essence of who she was is still the same. It's the other stuff. The moodiness, the irresponsible things she did, the combativeness when she didn't get her own way, the slamming the doors and stomping her feet whenever she was in trouble for something...that's what's changed. Jed, you have to admit, she was a handful at times."

"Like all teenagers. I figured she'd grow out of it."

"She has. That's what I'm trying to say. Something in her has genuinely changed...on the inside. I think we're finally starting to see the real Elizabeth, the person she's going to be the rest of her life."

"All that in a couple of months?"

"I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes. Don't get me wrong, she still has her moments. But there are times when I'm talking to her that I forget she's still a child. I know, I know, she'd say she's not a child anymore, but she is to me. And that's what's so amazing about it. If I can look at her, as her mother, and for once, not think of her as a baby, then she must have grown up when I wasn't looking."

"When did you have this epiphany?"

"I wouldn't call it an epiphany. It didn't happen all at once."

"So when..."

"Right after the miscarriage, she came into my room. We had a nice long talk and for the first time in her life, I looked at her and felt like I was dealing with someone who was mature enough to understand the complicated emotions I was feeling."

"Did you open up to her?"

"Not as much as I wanted to. I didn't want to burden her with everything. But the point is, I felt like I could." She paused to allow him to share her thoughts. When he didn't, she asked, "It's not just me, is it? It can't possibly be true that this how she's been all along and it's just taken me this long to appreciate who she is?"

"No, it's not just you." He coiled his arm around her neck and pulled her in to drop a kiss onto her head. "I just don't want to jinx it."

"Good call." Abbey chuckled.

"Give me the keys."

Abbey dropped the keys into his waiting hands. "I can't believe she's really 17. In a year, I'm going to be the mother of an adult."

"I'll be the father of one."

"Yeah, but men sound accomplished and distinguished when they talk about their adult children. Women just sound old and washed up."

Abbey climbed into the passenger's side as Jed took the driver's seat.

"No one would dare to call you old or washed up, Sweet Knees. And if they did, you send them my way and I'll set them straight."

"How do you plan to do that?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe I'll pull out some of those boudoir photos you had done for me last Christmas." He laughed when Abbey punched him in the arm. "Seriously, raising a child is a skill all its own. And anyone who reduces it to anything less than what it is, needs a reality check."

"It is a skill, isn't it?"

"Absolutely! The biggest challenge of our lives has been raising our Elizabeth."

Abbey allowed a laugh of her own. "She is one of a kind."

"Lizzie? Always has been." Jed sashed his belt across his chest.

"And you're right, she was a challenge. Still is." Abbey found his free hand and laced her fingers through his. "I'm awfully proud of her though, more proud than I ever would have thought possible before becoming a mother. Raising her...it's the most remarkable thing I've ever done."

Jed smiled tenderly at his wife and said, "Me too."

TBC


	34. Chapter 34

No one understood the demands placed on a surgeon better than Dr

Series: Snapshots of the Past

Story: Man of the House

Chapter 34

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Previously: The Bartlets celebrated Liz's 17th birthday; Ellie took first place for her grade's science fair and looked forward to the school-wide contest

Summary: Jed and the girls attend parent's night while Abbey is stuck at the hospital; a patient stirs up painful memories for Abbey; Ellie gets a big surprise during the science fair awards ceremony; Abbey clashes with a female med student; the Bartlets enjoy a late-night basketball game

Author's Note: This is a very long one. I thought about breaking it up into two chapters, but I think it flows better as one. Hope you enjoy it!

* * *

It was parent's night at Manchester Elementary. The school was buzzing with students who had joined their moms and dads and gabbed amongst their peers in classrooms while their parents mingled with their teachers. In the library, a fourth, fifth, and sixth-grade art exhibit lured curious crowds and in the gymnasium, where science fair projects were on display, kids waited anxiously for the adults to roam through. One of those kids was Ellie. She'd been standing at her station, watching the door ever since the Bartlets had arrived, and as the minutes flew by, she was starting to lose hope that her mother would make it.

Abbey was in surgery. It wasn't planned. She was supposed to have left in plenty of time to meet her family, but on her way out, she saw a patient being wheeled into the emergency room. The bleeding woman was on the brink of death and Abbey couldn't ignore her. So she ran alongside the gurney, jumped into a clean pair of scrubs, and scrubbed in to save the woman's life.

"Could I get a time check please?" she asked one of the scrub nurses in the first hour of the operation. It tore her apart that she had to start a procedure that would cause her to miss Ellie's big night. If she could've been in two places at once, she would've freely done so. But she couldn't. The O.R. was where she was now and where she had to be until her patient was stable.

"It's 6:30."

Abbey looked up at the third-year medical student observing the surgery. "Amanda, right?"

"Yes, Ma'am." The sharp pupil was proud to be addressed by the famed Dr. Bartlet. She straightened up and waited to hear what Abbey had to say.

"Would you mind doing me a big favor?"

"Anything!"

"Can you call my husband and tell him I'm in surgery and I'll meet him at the school as soon as I can? My nurse has the number."

Amanda's posture immediately collapsed. Thrown off-guard by a request she considered wildly inappropriate, she muttered softly, "What?"

"Please, would you call my husband? I wouldn't ask if it wasn't important."

"But...that...I'll have to break scrub."

"I know. You can scrub back in when you get back."

"But I'll miss what you're doing."

The stress of the day was getting to her. It was obvious to all those around her. Abbey very rarely snapped at med students, but that day, at that moment, she barked back at Amanda, "You'll catch it another time."

The student looked to the nurses, none of whom made eye contact with her. She then looked around at the other doctors - a few residents and a couple of interns - hoping someone else would stand up for her and allow her to stay for her very first surgery. No one did. And so, without any allies, she huffed her way out of the operating room.

* * *

After meeting with Ellie's teacher, Jed visited the science fair exhibits. Ms. Allen had gushed over Ellie's project, raving about the originality, creativity, and level of difficulty that she didn't expect from a fifth grade student. He couldn't wait to see it with his own eyes. He already knew what it looked like, had helped her with the original concept even, but getting a look at the finished project with other parents who were in awe of his daughter's talent, a wave of pride surged inside him.

He was beaming as they took special notice of the three rockets Ellie had designed. They patted her on the back and wished her luck, and then, when they walked away, they whispered about the talented young girl.

Jed waited until the crowd filtered out before he approached the ten-year-old. "You're a superstar!"

Ellie giggled bashfully. "I feel like one."

"Are you all right?" he asked, sensitive to the fact that speaking to crowds wasn't easy for her.

"Yeah, this was a good idea." She gestured to the poster Abbey had told her to design to explain the project. "It's nothing like when I had to do the presentation for the judges yesterday. As long as I don't have to give a speech, I think I'll be okay. Can you stay with me though?"

"I'll be here all night!"

"Where's Mom?"

"She must still be in surgery, sweetheart. I'm sorry."

Ellie's sunny expression faded. "It's okay."

As she neared her father and sister, Liz overheard the news. "Hey, El, think of it this way. The science fair will still be open tomorrow, so if Mom doesn't make it tonight, she can see it then when no one else is around. That way, you can give her your undivided attention."

"I wanted her here tonight. What if I win? She's gonna miss it."

"I know, but she wouldn't miss it unless she absolutely had to. It must've been a really bad case, like life and death."

"I guess."

"Remember last year when she was called in and we had to have Easter dinner without her so she could save that homeless man who was beaten up by those thugs who tried to rob him of his change? Remember how bad he was hurt? He would've died if Mom hadn't helped him."

"I remember." Ellie had cried over that man's plight at the time and even now, the story tugged at her heartstrings.

"I bet it's something like that."

"You think it is?"

"I'm sure of it. The science fair was on the top of Mom's priority list. If she doesn't make it, it's because someone out there really needs her."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Ellie's gloomy frown curved into a smile thanks to Liz's explanation.

Jed looked on, relieved and a bit surprised. Liz had always been Abbey's harshest critic when it came to work. When she was Ellie's age, she had often been disappointed by Abbey's absence, but to see her justifying it now convinced him that she really had grown to appreciate her mother. She was easing up and, hopefully, he thought, finally beginning to sympathize with the demands of Abbey's career.

* * *

"What happened to her?" Abbey often wanted to know more about her patients. Her job as a surgeon was to cut them open and operate on a specific part of their anatomy, but her job as a person was to humanize them as much as possible. She never reduced them to random body parts she was expected to slice into.

"Mugging," a tech answered as he held her scalpel while Abbey drained the blood around the woman's heart and lungs.

"Was she sexually assaulted?"

"Not as far as we know."

"Did they catch the guy?"

A male doctor across the table asked, "What makes you think it was a guy?"

Despite her mouth and nose shielded by the mask, Abbey's brows twitched in a way that gave the impression of confidence. "Just an assumption. Aren't the perpetrators of most female muggings men?"

"It's not like rape. There are exceptions out there."

"I have yet to see one."

No one in the room suspected that beneath her calm, steely demeanor, Abbey was caught in her own private nightmare. Memories of the night she was attacked in the hospital parking lot were still as vivid as they were terrifying. And it shocked her, the flashback that came out of nowhere. After all, she rarely thought about her attack. The images rarely plagued her mind. It was the kind of thing that sometimes crept up on her, out of the blue and without warning. Like now.

If the knife wounds on her hands were any indication, the woman lying on her table had fought for her life, much like Abbey had five years earlier. She'd been violently battered and left nearly lifeless. That was why Abbey couldn't abandon her when she was wheeled into the E.R. It would have been like negligent homicide, she thought. Maybe not legally, but certainly morally. Leaving without doing whatever she could to help a fellow human being who had just experienced the kind of trauma that could break the strongest of souls, was something she couldn't bring herself to do, no matter what.

"What's her name?" she asked.

"Lacie," a nurse told her. "Lacie Klosterman. She's 26 years old."

"Does she have a husband? Kids?"

"Does it matter?" Still disgruntled about having to leave in the middle of the operation, Student Doctor Amanda McKenzie was trying to provoke a confrontation.

"Yes." Abbey addressed her with a similar tone - cold, unforgiving. Amanda had rubbed her the wrong way from the start. "It matters to me."

"Why?"

There was a hierarchy in medicine. A medical student wasn't expected to challenge an attending any more than a little leaguer was expected to challenge a professional baseball player.

"Why what?"

"Why does it matter if she has a husband or kids? Does that make her life more or less valuable?"

The implied accusation was highly insulting to Abbey.

"No," she said. "What it does is remind us all that she's a human being who was walking and talking and laughing and crying before she ended up in this hospital. And remembering that is important because that's what drives us to stay here for as long as we have to, to do whatever we can in order to help her survive."

"And you wouldn't do that without knowing the personal details of her life?"

"Believe me, the first time you perform a 14-hour operation without so much as a restroom break, you'll find that knowing things about your patient besides the location of his or her injury is what keeps you going. That's what keeps you glued to the table even if your shift is over, it's what eases your guilt about coming in on the holidays and missing important family engagements, it's what pushes you over the hump and forces you to go above and beyond the call of duty if you think that's what will save their life. That's what makes you a good doctor. Until you've wobbled your way far enough into your education to understand what I'm saying, why don't you stand back and use your two years of med school to try to learn a little something?"

And the room went silent. Dr. Bartlet was known for being tough when she had to be, but she never before had to be with a student. As a teacher, interns and residents looked up to her, medical students were eager to learn from her. Never had anyone below senior resident flamed her temper the way Amanda did and never had she reacted in the hostile way she had this time.

* * *

"What's this?" Back at the science fair, Jed examined a potted plant at a station adjacent to Ellie's.

"It's a plant," Liz informed him.

Jed paused for a beat to absorb the obvious answer, then replied sarcastically, "Who says you're not good at science? Did you hear that Zoey? Lizzie, all by herself, figured out that the green leafy thing is indeed a plant. I bet she could give Mr. Wizard a run for his money. What do you think?"

Liz tilted her head and rolled her eyes. "Why do you always pick on me?"

"Because, Lizzie Lou, you're fun to pick on." He tugged on her arm hard enough to make her laugh. What he didn't expect was to draw a laugh out of Zoey as well. "See? Even Zoey agrees."

"Me and Ellie pick on Lizzie all the time!"

"Just wait…" Liz warned. "One of these days, I'll get even with all of you."

Behind her father and sisters, Ellie heaved a frustrated sigh. "Dad, is Mom ever going to get here? They're about to do awards."

Jed turned around as he reached into his pocket. "You know what I happen to have brought with me?"

"That doesn't answer my question."

"I'm asking a new question. You know what I have in my pocket?" He pulled out a shiny token and held it in front of her eyes. "My lucky crescent."

"There's no such thing as a lucky crescent."

He feigned a look of shock. "No such thing as a lucky crescent?" The reaction brightened Ellie's face. "Don't ever tell your mother you said that. You know what she did?"

"What?"

"She carved crescents into my shoes right before I went out to accept my Nobel Prize because she read somewhere that crescents were the Swedish symbol for good luck."

"But we're not in Sweden now."

"Quit being so literal!"

"Why did you need luck in Sweden anyway?"

"My shoes were slippery and I was worried about taking a header right off the stage and into the King's lap."

"Oh man, I wish that had happened!" Liz teased with a laugh.

"ANYWAY…" Jed sneered at his eldest daughter. "Ellie, the point is, I needed luck and I got it, thanks to this. So now I'm giving it to you."

Ellie accepted the token. "Cool, thanks!"

Jed didn't really believe in the power of the crescent, but at least the thought of it distracted Ellie from thinking about Abbey for a minute and just as he hoped, that was long enough for the school to begin the awards ceremony. He held his middle daughter's hand as the principal swaggered up to the podium.

Her lips clenched from nerves, Ellie listened in anticipation of the announcement of the third-place student. She held her breath, thinking that it might be her. It wasn't. She closed her eyes, hoping to have at least come in second. She didn't. She still had a shot at first place, she thought, but with so many amazing projects, it was possible she was completely off the judges' radar when it came to the school-wide contest. She let go of her father's hand so that she could rub her crescent-shaped coin as the principal presented the first-place winner.

"This student challenged herself and exceeded even her own expectations. Because she rose to the occasion to use theories that had never been taught to her, because she was unafraid to learn something new, to delve into subjects like physics, thermo and aerodynamics, mechanics, subjects that she wouldn't be expected to know until high school, because she not only learned them, but then turned around and taught them to her peers through her project, the judges felt she earned the highest score. It's my pleasure to introduce you to the 1985 Manchester Elementary Science Fair winner - Eleanor Bartlet."

She won, he had said. Ellie looked to Jed for confirmation.

"You did it!" Jed's face glowed with the pride he felt in his heart, pride he couldn't possibly put into words without stalling her.

Ellie gave Liz a high-five and then dashed up to the podium to accept her trophy. It was tall - blue with a silver base and stars shooting out of the top. Her name had been engraved on it after the judging the day before.

"And along with this trophy and a hundred-dollar savings bond," the principal continued with Ellie beside him, "as the winner of this year's science fair, she's won a trip to Space Camp this summer."

The applause roared louder as Ellie shook her principal's hand. It was clear to everyone watching that the petite little girl with flaxen curls and big, teary eyes was overcome with emotion on her way back to her family. She started to run when she was half-way there. Jed met her in the middle, tossed her up in the air, and twirled her around as a faculty member snapped a picture of father and daughter in a very special embrace.

* * *

Abbey retreated to the physician's locker room to change out of her soiled scrubs following the four-hour operation. A glance at her watch told her she had missed parent's night and all the science fair hoopla that came with it. Disappointed, she cranked her neck to rid herself of the tension and began to strip out of her clothes.

Suddenly, a loud shove of the door jolted her. She peered around the corner to see Amanda McKenzie storming in, angry and ready for a fight.

"Let's get something straight!" she demanded.

Abbey replied calmly to diffuse the situation. "You're not supposed to be here."

"Oh sorry," Amanda growled at her. "I didn't mean to invade your physicians-only space, but I have something to say."

"Say it and leave."

"I'm here to learn something."

"I'm well aware of that."

"I don't think you are. I pay money to be here - tuition. I pay my school's tuition because as a third-year med student, I'm supposed to slave my way through the wards all day and all night so that I can pass my shelf exams, get my evaluations for residency apps, and take step two of the national boards...all of that is dependent upon what I learn around here."

"Your point?"

"I'm not your freakin' secretary!" she seethed. "And you wouldn't have treated me like one if I'd been a guy."

Abbey stopped her there. Prudent or not, she couldn't let that go with the same control she exercised before. "Whoa, hang on one damn minute."

"I got it from everyone else, but you know what, I expected it from them. I expected it from Dr. Bellows and Dr. Johnston and Dr. Silverman. Being that you're a woman, I DIDN'T expect it from you!"

"And you didn't get it from me! Who else was in that O.R. today?"

"It doesn't matter."

"It DOES matter! You were the only student invited into surgery. The others were scrub nurses, techs, and doctors. Who do you think I'm going to pick to make a phone call for me?"

"You shouldn't have picked anybody! You're supposed to leave your personal life at the door!"

"You are way out of line and I suggest you quit while you're still just barely ahead."

"Or what?"

"I'm about a second away from filing a report with your clerkship director."

That got Amanda's attention. The last thing she needed in her academic file was disciplinary action. "For questioning you?"

"For barging in here and hurling accusations you can't report nor prove. I'm fairly confident someone explained the rules of professional conduct to you at orientation. Am I wrong?"

"No."

"Then get it together. I didn't send you out because you're a woman. I sent you out because you're the only one who was OBSERVING the surgery. I needed the others there to help me. If something went wrong, did you really think I was going to hand you the scalpel? I sent you out because you're the one whose presence wasn't vital to the patient's survival. The patient comes first."

"Like I don't know that."

"Then start acting like you do." Calmer now, Abbey added, "If you were offended…"

"I'm used to being offended around here. I just didn't think you'd be the one offending me."

"I didn't set out to."

"You know something, I've wanted to work with you ever since we started rotations. I wanted to learn from you – the great Abigail Bartlet, M.D. You're a legend at this hospital. I should've known you're just like all the other attendings. You say you want to teach, but the second you get a chance to, you send me out to do scut. Why don't you just be honest? You don't give a damn who learns what. You just want students to stay out of your way and run your errands."

Restraining herself from further comment, Abbey replied, "I think you'd better leave."

"I figured you might."

And with that she was gone, leaving Abbey shaken by the confrontation.

* * *

Jed and the girls left the science fair, stopped at Friendly's for ice cream to celebrate, and then headed back to the farm house. All the way home, Liz and Zoey competed for Ellie's second ticket to Space Camp. Liz argued that since she was the oldest, she'd take care of Ellie while they were at Cape Canaveral. Zoey said that since she was younger, Ellie could show off to the other kids by teaching her everything she knows.

Jed listened to both of them rallying around their sister, then hit them with a dose of reality - there was no way he was about to send two of his daughters to Florida by themselves, regardless of which two it was. As he expected, even that didn't stop the girls from campaigning.

Liz started with a bribe. "Ellie, if you take me with you, I'll give you my blue sweater."

"Your blue sweater doesn't fit me."

"I'll have it altered. That's how badly I want to go!"

"Elizabeth," Jed intervened as he unlocked the front door.

"What?"

"You don't even like science. Why do you want to go to Space Camp?"

"I don't have to like science to like the beach and, hello, any direction you head in Florida, there's a beach."

"We have beaches here."

"Our beaches don't come equipped with tanned teenage guys from all over the country flexing their muscles in the sand."

Jed's eyes narrowed into slits. "If that's what's on your mind, I can tell you now, you're grounded."

"Dad."

"Didn't I say this was a futile argument? You're not going to Florida alone."

"That's what you said."

"I see it made an impression."

Liz shrugged. "You could change your mind."

"Not likely." He opened the door and ushered them in. "Okay, it's late. Everyone upstairs, get ready for bed."

"After you." Liz allowed Ellie to lead.

"Thanks."

Zoey fell in step right behind Liz on the way upstairs. "Ellie, did you know that you're my favorite sister in the whole world?"

"She's not gonna fall for that line, Zoey. You told me I was your favorite sister this morning."

"But I lied then."

"So maybe you're lying now."

"I'm not! Ellie really is my favorite sister!"

"Fine, then I want my chocolate bar back."

"But you gave it to me!"

"And now I want it back."

"Liiiiizzzzzzzziiiiiieeee, that's not fair! I was gonna eat it!"

"Get one from your favorite sister."

Enjoying all the attention, Ellie quietly smiled and marched dutifully to her room while her sisters trailed behind. An exhausted Jed shook his head at his daughters, then went to the kitchen to put on a pot of warm milk. Abbey would probably need it when she got home.

* * *

By the time he heard the crunch of gravel under the tires of Abbey's car, Jed had changed into a pair of jeans and a Dartmouth sweatshirt and had gone outside to shoot some hoops. She parked several feet away and drifted towards him, somewhat moping. He had been waiting for her, but he didn't let on. Instead of asking about her day, he started off with a lighter topic.

"You're right," he told her, aiming the ball at the basket above the garage. "The net's much more convenient here."

"So you don't mind that I moved it?"

"Nah. Doesn't matter where it is. I'll still beat the pants off you." After it slid through the net, he retrieved the ball and threw it to her.

"Jed..." Abbey threw it back.

"Come on, give me a game." By the look on her face, he knew she needed a distraction.

"I'm tired," she said firmly.

"Okay." He accepted that and dribbled the ball on his own. "Did he make it?"

"What?"

"Your patient. I assume it was a life or death emergency."

"It was. She was a woman and, yes, she made it."

The patient was fine. That left only one other reason that she'd be so upset. "Ellie knows you did what you had to do. Because of you, there's a family out there that's still intact tonight."

"Yeah."

"She's still up. She has some news to share if you want to check in on her."

"She won, didn't she?"

"My lips are sealed."

Abbey watched him sink one more basket, then walked into the house on a direct path up the stairs to Ellie's room. The ten-year-old was kneeling in front of her trophy in the corner, wiping at the emblem before pushing it back to its rightful place among her soccer medals and field day ribbons. Zoey was jumping on her sister's bed while Liz sat at Ellie's homework desk, thumbing through the brochure for Cape Canaveral.

"The Kennedy Space Center is less than an hour from Disney World."

"REALLY?" That resonated more with Zoey. Unlike Liz and Ellie, she had yet to visit the Magic Kingdom.

Liz looked up, dreamily. "I'd give anything for a Florida tan."

"I wanna meet Megan and Sundance!"

"Zoey, Megan and Sundance are My Little Pony characters."

"So?"

"So they're not a creation of Disney. You won't see them at Disney World."

"You don't know that! They might be friends with Cinderella!"

Instead of crushing Zoey's childhood fantasy, Liz strayed to another argument. "It doesn't matter anyway because Dad's never going to let us go."

Ellie offered a suggestion. "Maybe if you ask nicely, Mom and Dad'll take us all."

"I did ask nicely."

"Lizzie, I'm only 10 and even I could have told you Dad was going to say no if you brought up boys. He won't let us go alone so you have to talk him into it like it's a family vacation."

"You're right. But if we have any hope of that working, we have to do it together...all three of us."

"I'm in."

"Me too!" Zoey agreed.

"Okay." Liz nodded optimistically. "I'll call a family meeting and we'll spring it on them before Dad leaves for Washington on Sunday. Until then, they can't know we're planning something."

All eyes turned to Zoey.

"What?" Confusion laced the preschooler's tone.

"You have to keep your mouth shut, that's what."

Standing right outside the room, Abbey listened to the pact her daughters were making. She didn't quite understand what it was about, but she knew that when the trio plotted behind her back, it was usually so they could gang up on their parents.

She stood in the doorway, saw the three-way pinky swear, and finally revealed herself to ask, "Am I interrupting a gang initiation?"

"MOM!" For once, Ellie beat Zoey to their mother. "Guess what, guess what, guess what?"

Amused, Abbey leaned down to plant a kiss on top of her head. "What?"

"I finally did something Lizzie's never done!" She loved her popular and talented sister with all her heart, but after living in Liz's shadow all her life, it was exciting for Ellie to discover her own gift. She quickly retrieved her trophy and held it out to show Abbey. "I WON the science fair!"

"YES!" Abbey gave her a hug that nearly squeezed the breath out of Ellie. "And you were nervous about the presentation! Wasn't it worth it?"

"I don't know yet." She cracked a smile when Abbey raised her brow. "Okay, I guess the presentation might have been worth it, but I don't ever want to do it again."

"That's a discussion for another day. Deal?"

"Deal! And guess what else?"

"There's more?"

"I'm going to Space Camp! That was part of my prize!"

"Oh, sweetheart." She hugged her even tighter. "I am so, so proud of you!"

Ellie pulled away when she heard her mother sigh. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, sweetie. I'm a little sad that I wasn't there to see it, that's all."

"It's okay. I know you were at work. Lizzie said it had to be real serious...like the homeless guy last year."

"Yeah, it was. It was a young woman who was hurt pretty badly."

"Did she live?"

"Yes, she did."

"Then you're a hero."

It was Ellie's turn to hug her now. Abbey ran her hands through her golden locks, forcing herself to compose her emotions and forget about the bad day she'd had for her daughter's sake. Once she was able to do that, she moved to the bed and sat there for the next 20 minutes while Liz and Zoey joined Ellie in sharing the details of the science fair.

As the conversation drew to a close, Liz tried to win her mother's support. "So I think I should get to chaperone Ellie in Florida."

"You?"

"Yeah. What's wrong with me?"

"Aside from the fact that you're not an adult?"

"That's not a rule."

"Of course it is."

"Not it isn't! I read the whole brochure and it says nothing about it."

"It's my rule, Baby Doll. You're not going to Florida."

"Will you at least consider it?"

"No," Abbey replied easily. As she glanced at the clock on Ellie's nightstand, she rose to her feet. "It's late. You should get ready for bed, all of you."

"It's Friday," Zoey whined.

"And if you don't want to waste Saturday, it's time for bed. PJs in 10 minutes. Lizzie, that goes for you too."

"Yeah, yeah."

Abbey kissed all three girls, then went back downstairs to see Jed, pulling her hair into a ponytail and changing into a pair of sneakers along the way.

"You still want to play?" she asked as she opened the door.

"With you? Always." He threw the ball to her.

She caught it this time. "Just for a minute. And no score-keeping."

"How are the girls?"

"They're getting ready for bed."

"You look like you're in a better mood."

"I am." She shot the ball and missed, as usual. "Jed?"

He caught it on rebound. "Yeah?"

"It wasn't just Ellie. That's not the only reason I was upset." She stole the ball to get his attention. "I was accused of sexism today."

"And what did you do to that stud of a male nurse?"

"I'm serious."

Jed couldn't believe his ears. He was frozen to his spot, stunned. "What? Who the hell accused you of sexism?"

"This female med student...the one who called to tell you I was in surgery. She did call, didn't she?"

"Yeah, just as we were walking out the door. Why did she..."

"It doesn't matter. Look, I don't want to get into the details. The bottom line is that it isn't true and it bothers me that she said it. It bothers me more that she thinks it."

"Abbey, the idea is preposterous. No one understands what female doctors put up with during training better than you. Remember that creep during your third-year rotations. What was his name...Ken something?"

"Dr. Kyle Nelson. And I know, that's what bugs me about it." Abbey held the ball in her hand, digging her fingers into the rubber.

"I don't understand. What happened?"

"Jed, please. Not tonight."

"Okay, okay. If you don't want to get into the details, what do you want?"

"I guess I wanted to get it off my chest. Now that I have, I'd appreciate it if we could let it go for now. I just don't want to think about it anymore."

"Well, there's only one way to get your mind off it."

"What?"

He approached unthreateningly only to tap the ball from between her hands and cause it to hit the concrete. "Let's shoot a round of hoops. With scores."

"No way."

"Why not?"

"You're taking advantage of me because you know I'm not at the top of my game."

"Sweet Knees, I love you with every fiber of my being, but when it comes to basketball, on your best day, you're not on top of your game."

"Jackass."

"Come on. I'll give you the first shot."

"I don't know."

"Come on," he prodded. "Pretty please?"

"You're such a child," she laughed.

"I'll throw a tantrum if you want me to."

"As opposed to what you're doing now?"

A chorus of giggles echoed from above and Abbey lifted her eyelids to see her three daughters crammed into Liz's bedroom window trying to spy on their parents. Zoey waved when they were spotted.

Jed heard them too, but he kept his stare low as he closed the gap between him and Abbey and whispered, "Are they watching?"

"Yup."

"That can't be," he said, his voice booming now, loud enough for Liz, Ellie, and Zoey to hear. "Our three little angels know better than to deliberately disobey us by not going to bed."

"They're not moving," Abbey told him. She arched her brow and added.

"It's Friday night. Let them stay up if they want. And stop being a chicken. Play some ball."

"You're calling me a chicken?"

"Yeah."

"Yeah?" She slapped the ball from his clutches and made her shot. It hit the rim and then dropped through the net and onto the ground, where Jed quickly retrieved it.

"Beginner's luck."

"So says every loser." She had that devilish twinkle in her eye, the one that sparkled brightest when she was trying to raise his competitive hackles.

Jed played along. "You're gonna be sorry you said that."

He dunked a basket and then, surprisingly to him, so did she. Husband and wife flirted around each other so intensely that neither realized the girls were no longer watching out of Liz's window until the front door opened and Liz appeared on the porch.

"Mom, you can't do that," she said. "It's called traveling."

"I know very well what it's called," Abbey replied. "And I'll do it for as long as your father lets me get away with it."

"Oh, you are a manipulator! You knew you were breaking the rules this whole time?" Jed feigned an indignant tone.

"Of course. And so did you."

"Yes, I did. But the gentleman that I am, I gave you pass since you had such a bad day."

"I know."

"So who's taking advantage of whom?"

"Hard to say since you forced me into this game."

He threw her a saintly smile. "Do I at least get credit for not hounding you?"

"I don't think so." Giving him a wink, she threw the ball to Lizzie. "Come on. You and your father against me and Ellie."

"Really?" Liz doubted the proposal. After all, it was nearly midnight and she and her sisters were dressed in PJs and slippers.

"Really. I've been practicing since that pathetic game on Christmas Eve."

"It was only pathetic to you because I won," Jed said gleefully. "And who have you been practicing with?"

Ellie's crooked smile gave away her guilt. "I helped her."

"You?" He knew Ellie was athletic, but Liz was the basketball player in the family.

"You didn't tell me," Liz questioned.

Ellie shrugged her shoulders as she made a play for the ball. "I don't tell you everything. So who gets Zoey?"

"I wanna be on Mommy's team," Zoey said.

"Well, good, because you are," Abbey assured her. "We get Zoey."

Jed stole the ball from Ellie. "Why?"

"Because you have a bad back and Zoey needs to be picked up to win a basket."

"MAKE a basket, Mom! You don't WIN a basket. You MAKE a basket."

"All right, fine. MAKE a basket. Happy, smarty pants?" Abbey knew it bugged Liz when she butchered basketball terminology. That's why she did it.

"Getting there," Liz playfully sighed. "Now remember, you can't just walk around holding the ball. You have to dribble."

"She knows, Lizzie." Ellie was growing impatient.

"I'm reminding her. And Zoey can't be picked up and carried to the net. She has to be directly under it."

"Now tell me again, the point of the game is to win the least amount of baskets?" Abbey grinned.

"Okay, we've all got it. Let's go." Jed dribbled the ball.

"I just want it to be a fair game so no one can complain at the end," Liz insisted.

"Then don't complain," Ellie countered. "Cause we're gonna win."

"In your dreams!"

Jed stepped between his daughters. "Is everyone ready?"

"Hold on." Liz negotiated her way around her father. "Ellie, you know the rule on guarding?"

"Yes."

"You know the rule on three-pointers?"

"What rule on three-pointers?"

"We don't do it anymore after Zoey got hurt on Christmas Eve, remember?"

"Oh yeah."

"You know the rule about fouls?"

"Yes."

"For crying out loud, the Republicans used less planning getting Reagan elected!" Jed pounded on the ball, catching it in his hands when it bounced. "The rules are the rules. Now when I count to three, it's tip-off time. Anyone who's not in position, sits out."

Since Liz and Abbey were nearly the same height, they stood across from each other in preparation for the start of the game. Jed stood beside them, in the middle, in charge of the first jump ball.

"I should throw the ball," Liz suggested.

"I'm standing here," he said.

"So stand where I am and let me stand there."

"You can't just change positions."

"What is that, like the Eleventh Commandment or something?"

Abbey chuckled. "She's right, Jed. You and I usually do the tip-off."

"Fine. Let's just get to it. I want this game over before dawn."

Liz switched places with her father. "Ready?"

Suddenly, Abbey broke her stance. "Wait!" She stared down at Liz's feet. "You're not wearing shoes."

"Mom…"

"Abbey, it's not a walk on the moon. It's a basketball game."

"I'm not making her wear a jacket, but I draw the line at shoes. Slippers don't cut it. Liz, go put your shoes on. Take Ellie and Zoey with you."

"You're mom's right," Jed agreed.

Grumbling all the way to the house, the girls went inside.

"Thank you." Abbey lovingly addressed her husband.

"For sending them in?"

She wrapped her arms around Jed's neck. "For helping me forget about my miserable day. You were right. This is just what I needed."

"I like hearing that."

"That I'm feeling better?"

"That's I'm right," he gloated. "Seriously, that's what I'm here for, babe."

"Can we talk it through later?"

"I'll go you one better." His hands roamed all over her body, from her upper back to the swell of her rear. "How about we curl up in bed, I give you a full-body massage, and we can tackle what to do about that delusional, snot-nosed med student?"

Abbey laughed. "That sounds like heaven."

He kissed her then. One kiss led to another and soon, they were caught in a fierce liplock by their daughters.

"Are we gonna play or are you guys gonna make out?"

"Silly little Lizzie, we can do both." Jed looked over at Abbey. "She must not realize that you and I are making out even when we're not physically making out."

"Ugh, Dad!" That was Ellie.

"Okay, come on! Let's get on with it!"

Once again, Jed, Abbey, and Liz took their places and against his better judgment, Jed kept his eyes on his wife instead of the ball. She used it to her advantage. Just as Liz tossed it into the air, Jed's mouth dropped and he lost his concentration. Abbey tipped the ball towards Ellie who began to dribble to the basket.

"FOUL!" Jed called out

"What?" Abbey innocently batted her eye.

"You flashed me."

"When?" Liz didn't even notice.

"Right before tip-off, she flashed me."

"Hey, if your mind was in the gutter…" Abbey began.

"My mind was in the gutter because you flashed me."

"Sounds like a personal problem to me."

"You little minx!"

"There's nothing against flashing in the rules, which means it's fair game. Isn't that right, Ellie and Zoey?"

"Uh huh!" Enthusiastic that her team had the upper-hand, Zoey used her father's words against him. "The rules are the rules, Daddy!"

"Hey, wait a second!" Liz interjected.

Abbey reminded her, "No complaining, Liz! You said so yourself!"

While the others bumped heads, Ellie made her first basket without anyone's interference and joyfully declared, "Two to nothing!"

TBC


	35. Chapter 35

Series: Snapshots of the Past

Series: Snapshots of the Past

Story: Man of the House

Chapter 35

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Previously: Jed and the girls attended the science fair, where Ellie won first prize and a trip to Space Camp; Abbey was delayed at the hospital, operating on a mugging patient who brought back painful memories for her; the man who once attacked Abbey was released from prison (Chapter 5)

Summary: On the morning of an anti-violence rally she and Liz are going to, Abbey opens up to Jed about the fears and lingering anger of the past

Author's Note: For newer readers, I wanted to let you know that the Crews storyline was the plotline for two stories from earlier in the series - Say You Love Me Too and Phoenix. Both can be found on this site.

* * *

Nearly run over by the commotion, Abbey jumped out of the way of the medical personnel rushing to the ambulance to meet the patient who was about to be wheeled into her operating room. Her stomach churned. Nervousness. Anxiety. These were emotions she wasn't used to feeling at the start of surgery, but even before she got her first look at the bloodied man who would be lying on her table, she must have known this wouldn't be a normal procedure.

Frank Crews.

She gasped when she saw him. The wretched lowlife who had tried to kill her nearly six years earlier now needed her help to live. Almost instantly, she was transported back in time to that spring day in 1979 when he forcefully grabbed her from behind and viciously struck her as she fought against his overpowering strength. Her nails dug into his flesh, but that only made him angrier. He carried her away from the hospital parking lot and dropped her so hard on the ground that the brutality of it seized what little breath she had left in her. She struggled against the hands pinning her down, a move that earned her the blistering wrath of the back of his hand.

She screamed once. Then twice. She was sweaty and writhing, kicking at the covers, pulling on the sheets, trying to escape the memory that was haunting her so vividly when she felt a masculine grip on her arms and a heavy frame on top of her. She swung at him, not knowing it was Jed who was with her now.

"ABBEY?" he called to her as he shook her. "ABBEY?" He gently tapped on her face. "Abbey, it's me. It's Jed. Wake up, baby. I'm here. I'm right here."

She finally woke, gasping for air and mumbling something inaudible. Jed held her face in his hands until her lashes parted and her eyes zeroed in on him. Pushing her dampened bangs back off her forehead, he lulled her into the safety of his arms.

"It's okay, honey," he told her. "It was just a nightmare. A horrible, horrible nightmare." He pressed a soft kiss to her skin before he crawled out of bed to get her a glass of water.

It took several minutes for Abbey to catch her breath, and when she eventually did, she said, "It was so real."

"Do you want to tell me about it?"

Sitting up, she swallowed past the lump in her throat. "It was him. Crews. He was back and he was in the O.R. I was supposed to operate on him."

"Oh, Abbey." He couldn't even imagine how frightening that must have been.

"I couldn't do it, Jed. I couldn't save his life. I froze. I remembered what he did, what happened. I was fighting him all over again. This time, it was even more real."

"This time?" He handed her the glass. "Here." After she took a sip, he placed it on the nightstand. "What do you mean this time? Have you had this dream before?"

"Not this particular one."

"I didn't know you had any dreams about him." He climbed back into bed.

"I did, right after he was let out of prison in January. Just once though. Since then, I've been fine."

"Do you know why you had one tonight?"

"The woman I was treating on Friday, she was the victim of a mugging. Aside from her internal injuries, she had bruises on her face and cuts on her hands, like I did. When I saw them…the cuts…I had a flashback."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"It was such a small part of the day, it seemed inconsequential. By the time I got home, I found out Ellie won the science fair, we played basketball with the girls, and then we talked about what happened with Amanda. I thought I was over it."

"You weren't."

"No, I guess I wasn't. Believe me, if I knew I was going to have a nightmare about it..." She glanced over at him and this time, she really saw him, the concerned expression on his face and the strange red mark on his cheek. It startled her. "Did I do that?"

"It's no big deal."

Straddling him now, she stroked then kissed the bruise she'd left when she slapped him while she was still asleep. "Oh, honey, I'm so sorry."

"Forget it," he told her with a tender tone of forgiveness. "But, if you're giving away free kisses, I also hurt here..." he pointed to his other cheek. "...and here..." then to his forehead. "...and especially here..." and finally, to his lips.

"Who says you're not an opportunist?" Abbey kissed him in all those places and when she was done, she rested her head on his chest while Jed ran his fingers lazily through her dark auburn waves. "What time is it?"

"Almost seven," he said as he looked over at the clock. "Do you want to talk about it? About Crews?"

"Yeah."

"I'm listening."

"Not now."

"Why not?"

"Because Zoey's going to be up soon, and then Liz, and Ellie shortly after. I want to have this conversation when the kids aren't around and there's no chance of them hearing us."

"They won't hear us. I think they learned their lesson the last time they walked in on us in bed on a Sunday morning. Liz said she was scarred for life." He was hoping to replace her painful thoughts with the humorous memory of the girls interrupting them in bed, but his effort didn't even crack a smile. Taking a deep breath, he conceded. "Okay. Whatever you want."

"Why don't you sleep for a while longer? I'm going to shower and start breakfast."

"Forget breakfast. Stay here with me."

"Jed, I told you…"

"We don't have to talk. Let's just curl up and have a lazy morning today."

"Yeah?"

"I want to hold you. You can't really fault me for that, can you?"

"Not in a million years." She leaned onto her elbow. "What would you say about skipping church today and instead, having some us time?"

"I'd say we'll do whatever you want. But what's wrong with having us time right now?"

"Zoey's going to barge in here any minute without so much as a fleeting thought about what happened last time. Besides, the weekends are the only days we all sit down to breakfast."

"Right, the 'eat-on-the-go-during-the-week' rule I'm not allowed to complain about."

"Is that a hint of passive-aggressiveness I hear?" She pinched his cheek as if she was scolding him.

"Which part of that did you think was passive?" he grinned.

Grinning back at him, Abbey slipped out of bed, "I'm going to hit the shower."

* * *

After a hearty Sunday morning breakfast with the girls, Jed and Abbey took a stroll through the apple orchard. It was a beautiful day, the second of April. For the first time all year, it truly felt like spring had arrived. Temperatures hovered in the high 50s, they could see shades of the buds that would soon swell the branches, hear the gurgling water of the brook as it cut the ice that was rapidly melting around it, and a bright ray of sunshine cast a gorgeous glow on the snow that guarded a clear pedestrian path.

New Englanders treasured these days. It was that one week every year - after the bitter cold of winter and before the messy start of mud season - when they could leave the house without a coat and gloves and walk the grounds without slipping and sliding on patches of black ice.

They looked forward to these days. Most of them anyway. Jed Bartlet was definitely an exception.

"It feels great out here, doesn't it?"

"It's a little warm if you ask me." Dressed in jeans and a blue long-sleeved shirt that was rolled up his forearms, Jed still preferred it a bit cooler. Sweater weather, that's what he wanted.

"I didn't hear you complaining when it was this warm in Washington."

"That was Washington. This is New Hampshire. Up here, anything above 45 degrees is balmy."

"My hardy New England boy."

He threw her a smile. "So talk to me. Tell me what's going on inside that pretty head of yours."

"It's silly."

"There's nothing silly about how you feel, Abbey. Isn't that what you always tell the girls? For that matter, isn't that what you always tell me?" He stopped In front of her and asked that pointed question he'd wanted to ask all morning. "He still haunts you, doesn't he?" She shook her head, but Jed didn't buy it. "You don't have to lie to me."

"I wasn't going to lie. I was going to say, 'no, not usually.' And that's the truth, Jed. I rarely think about him. It's just that sometimes, something triggers a memory and it affects me more than I realize."

"This time, it was that woman?"

"Yes." She began walking again. He followed.

"Are you sure that's it? What about the anti-violence rally that Liz has you going to tonight? Could that be part of it?"

"Maybe a little."

"If it's too much for you..."

"It's not. I want to go. I'm so proud of her for being involved in something like that. I want to be there with her. It's just a tad overwhelming, being around all these women confronting their fears when I'm not able to do that yet. I mean, I've dealt with it myself, but I'm not ready to say it out loud, to share it."

"You don't have to. Not ever if you don't want."

"I feel like it won't be over until I do. I won't stop having these flashbacks every now and then or these nightmares. I want them to go away."

"Abbey, pushing yourself isn't the answer. These memories you talk about, they're not crippling, right? Who cares if they sneak up on you from time to time as long as you know how to handle them."

"But what if I don't? What if you weren't home this morning and it was one of the girls who walked in on me having a nightmare? Am I supposed to tell them?"

"You tell them that Mommy had a bad dream and leave it at that."

"It's not that simple."

"It is that simple. If it's not, then there's something I'm not seeing. What's going on? Are you afraid of him coming back into our lives?"

"No. He doesn't have to come back into our lives for me to fear him. I just want to forget him, that's all. I keep telling myself it should be easy to do that. It's not like he raped me. He didn't knock me into a coma or rough me up with a slew of internal injuries like the woman I operated on on Friday. He just scared me."

"Wait." Jed stopped again, stopping her as well. "Did I just hear you say that Frank Crews did nothing but scare you? Abbey, he TRAUMATIZED you. You went through hell because of that cretin!"

"I know."

"For six weeks, you could barely remember your life - our life - before the attack. And putting aside the aftermath for a minute, let's talk about the sheer BRUTALITY of what he did. He could have KILLED you and he would have. The only reason you're standing here today is because you fought back!"

Firmer this time, she replied, "I know that."

"And since when is rape the barometer for how you should be feeling? Thank GOD he didn't rape you, but just because he didn't doesn't mean that you're expected to get over it any faster than if he had!"

"The longer it takes for me to let go of it, the angrier I get. Just like you."

"Me?"

"Yes. Look how worked up you are."

"What do you expect? I know you were the one who bore the physical and psychological trauma, but I was right there with you. The first time I saw you after...in the hospital...with the bruises...I can't even put my feelings into words. And what he took from you, from us...Abbey, you didn't even recognize me when you saw me. You didn't know who I was. That's how badly he hurt you. The cops questioned me. You doubted me. You even wondered if I had anything…"

"Stop." She reached out her hand to calm him down before he finished that statement. She never wanted to relive those weeks again, never wanted to think about not recognizing Jed's face or being suspicious him that night when she couldn't even remember that she was married.

"How can I not be worked up when we talk about him?"

"That's my point, Jed. The anger isn't healthy for either of us. It's over. I need to move on and so do you."

"I have moved on."

"You haven't."

55h"I have," he insisted boldly. "But I will never be able to hear his name without getting angry. That's my right. What he did, he did to both of us."

"Is it my right too? To be angry?"

"Yes."

"Then why do I feel like the longer I hold on to it, the more malignant it becomes?"

"What do you mean malignant?"

"If the scenario in my dream had really happened, if he had been wheeled into the O.R., do you know what I would have done?"

"What?"

"I wouldn't have saved his life. I wouldn't have. I would have let him bleed to death. To hell with the oath I took and with my values and ethics as a doctor. To hell with the fact that doctors are liable, that they're required to treat the patient right in front of them. To hell with all of that, I would have let him die."

"And no one would have blamed you. In fact, we would have stood up and cheered and then asked where was all that fire when he took the plea agreement?" He was trying to be supportive, but it was clear by the way her eyes narrowed against him, he did exactly the opposite. "What?"

"Why would you think it's appropriate to bring that up now?"

"What do you mean?"

"I'm opening up to you. It's not exactly a great time to remind me that he's out of prison because of me. How could you throw that in my face?"

"Abbey, I wasn't thinking. It didn't come out the way it sounded in my head."

"Let's go back to the house."

He took a step towards her, his hands coming to rest on her upper arms, softly massaging them. She wasn't angry, she was upset. More upset than he initially realized, and he didn't quite understand why. Her reaction to Crews made sense, but he didn't expect her to be sensitive about the plea agreement after all this time.

"I wasn't throwing it in your face. It was a careless comment I made with no thought or purpose." He draped his arms around her as he felt her loosen up a little and when he heard a soft whimper, he said, "Oh, please don't cry. You know it kills me when you cry. What's going on, sweetheart?"

Abbey hugged him back. "God, Jed, I'm so MAD at myself!"

"Why?"

"You were right back then. I shouldn't have accepted the plea bargain."

"Why are you going back over this? Is it because he was released a few months ago?"

"I was pregnant with Zoey when he attacked me. She was his victim too and unlike me, she didn't have a choice about the plea bargain. I'm her mother. I should have stood up to him, if not for myself, then for her. I was so scared to face him."

"Of course you were. We all were."

"You weren't. You saw him at the hearing and knocked him out, remember? Not me. I was afraid I would put myself and you and the girls through a trial and at the end, I would lose. I took the easy way out." She pulled away from his enveloping arms and clenched her hands hard until they were balled up into fists. "Why did I do that? Why didn't I listen to you?"

"Do you want to hit something?" Jed was staring at her fists.

"What?"

"The anger you were talking about a few minutes ago, I see it now. You look like you're about to clobber someone."

"Believe me, if Crews was here, I think I would!"

"I wish he was here so we could both get a shot at him." He gestured to his upper arm then, to give her a target. "Since he's not, you want to hit someone, hit me."

"Be serious."

"I am serious. Get your frustration out. It's not like you can hurt me."

"That's ridiculous. I'm not going to…what makes you think I can't hurt you?"

"Prove me wrong."

Abbey clenched even tighter, then lost her composure before striking. The angry creases on her face faded with laughter as Jed folded her up into his arms once again. "What was the point to all that?"

Now that he had taken the edge off the conversation, he replied, "Just trying to make you feel better. Did it work?"

"Not even a little bit," she said, ending the embrace.

"Liar. You wouldn't have laughed if you weren't feeling better."

"I laughed because of your goofy expression as you waited for me to punch you."

"I knew you couldn't do it."

"Don't tempt me."

"I won't. The volatile clenching of the fists is gone and that's all I wanted."

"Why?"

"Because when you're angry the way you were a second ago, you're off in your own little world. I couldn't have that. I needed your undivided attention when I told you that the plea bargain was the best decision you made through that whole ordeal."

"You don't really believe that."

"I do. Honey, we couldn't have won in court. That's why you...why WE took the plea bargain. It was the only way to insure the son of a bitch served some time."

"Yeah, Jed, I've heard that line. But that's not how you felt when it happened. Remember that terrible fight we had when you found out I caved?"

"I never thought of it as you caving."

"You said that by taking the plea bargain, I was sending the message that what he did to me and to our family didn't matter."

"And you told me how wrong I was to say that. You were the one who was right, not me. We made the only decision we could. I will believe that 'til the day I die and if you need me to, I'll remind you of it as well. Now, instead of continuing this trip down memory lane, answer my question. It's been five years since the plea agreement. Why are you going back over it?"

"Because I didn't know then what I know now - about Zoey."

"This is all about Zoey?"

"We could have lost her and I blame him for that. I did even back then...well, right after myself. At the time the D.A. approached me about the plea bargain, I was so worried about Zoey. But I was relieved, too, because she had made so much progress. She was going to make it. I had to keep telling myself that. I focused all my energy on her, on getting her better, on getting our family back together. That was the most important thing to me."

"Understandably so."

"But now that we know how Zoey's been affected and how she'll be affected for the rest of her life..."

"Abbey."

"If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have jumped to conclusions about Ellie's teacher, I wouldn't have gone to her school that day, I wouldn't have had that memory of the attack, I wouldn't have collapsed and gone into early labor..."

"If, if, if, if, if, if. Do you know how many loops of hypotheticals you have to go through before you get to Zoey's birth? You were just barely pregnant when Crews attacked you. His crime isn't what caused the early labor. No one caused it. It just happened."

"It didn't just happen. It was the emotional distress of the whole pregnancy that caused my water to break. She could have died."

"But she didn't. A number of things could have gone wrong in the first few years of her life, but they didn't. She's healthy and happy. So she has a little problem with reading. She can't put together a puzzle by herself. Big deal. Not everyone's good at the same things. You can dismiss this as a proud father talking if you want, but I think we have an extraordinary daughter on our hands. She's going to make her mark on the world in her own way, with her own talents. There was a time when you thought that too."

"I still do."

"Then don't torture yourself about the what ifs. In the grand scheme of things, who cares if she has a minor learning disability? There are people who have this same disability and they overcome it to graduate college, with Latin honors by the way, and go on to lead productive, influential lives. Am I right?"

"You are."

"So why harp on it? Is it because…" He trailed off.

"Because?"

"Because you just lost a baby? Are you going back over what happened with Zoey because of the miscarriage?"

"No. If there's one thing I've learned the past few months, it's that one has nothing to do with the other. My regrets about Zoey are directly linked to Crews and my thoughts about him are a result of Friday night."

"What can I do to make it better for you?"

"Nothing," she said a little too quickly. "Well, that's not entirely true. You can tell me more about Zoey. Give me more of your proud father spiel." She could always count on him for that.

"My proud father spiel, huh? That won't be hard." He wrapped his arm around her. "She's amazing, isn't she? Do you know that she can say 'supercalifragilisticexpialidocious' ten times in less than 15 seconds?"

"I did know that and it doesn't surprise me in the least. She's seen Mary Poppins 350 times."

"So have I, doesn't mean I can say it. Can you?"

"Forget it. I can't even get it out three times."

"She can also outtalk Lizzie. I didn't think anyone could outtalk Lizzie, but Zoey…when she's a teen, she's never gonna shut up! And she's always got something to say too, something clever."

"Her preschool teacher is so impressed with her. Did I tell you? She says our little chatterbox is blessed with an imagination she's not used to seeing from kids this age. And she's articulate too, Jed, with a strong vocabulary, more advanced than any of her classmates." Sharing stories about their pride in Zoey cheered Abbey up right away.

"I can't say I'm shocked. Whatever she's missing in visual learning, she more than makes up for in other areas."

"I guess there really is a reason they call it a non-verbal learning disability. She hasn't been short-changed in that department."

"Hey, she hasn't been short-changed in any department."

"That's not what I meant."

"Zoey didn't draw the short straw. She's very lucky she was born into the family she was because she has you and me and two sisters who would walk to the ends of the earth for her."

"I didn't mean it the way it sounded."

"I know. You're talking to the guy who stuck his foot in his mouth not five minutes ago. But the same thing we've said a hundred times before bears repeating. Any adversity Zoey faces now will only make her stronger later. That might not be a bad thing for a child who's going to be as spoiled as she is, being raised the baby in the family."

"She wouldn't be spoiled if you didn't spoil her."

"That's a responsibility I share with you, my love," he said affectionately. "Anyway, it could have been worse, you know. She could have been born with so many other impairments. An extra limb, an extra tongue, an extra ear." He rested his hand on top of his head like a claw. "Imagine how dangerous that kid would be with a third ear, one right up here on top of her head. It'd be like eavesdropping with a satellite dish."

Abbey laughed. "You're a real goofball, you know that?"

"Made you laugh though - again. You gotta give me credit for that."

"I do." She kissed him. "Tell me more while you walk me back to the house. We have to take you to the airport on the way to the rally."

"No we don't. I'm staying another night."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm flying back to DC tomorrow."

"Because of me? Jed, you don't have to do that."

"Not because of you, because of me. And I already changed my ticket."

"When?"

"When you were in the shower."

"That wasn't necessary."

"Shh." He touched his index and middle finger to her lips. "I know it wasn't necessary. You're resilient, Abbey, I know that. It takes a lot more than a lousy nightmare to rattle you, I know that too. But every now and then, I like taking care of you. I want to be there for you tonight. Even if you and Liz go to the rally alone, I want you to remember that I'm at home waiting for you. It may not seem important to you now, but it could mean a lot more later."

"Who says it doesn't mean something now? It means the world to me, Jed." She snuggled up to him and slipped a hand into his back pocket. "Let's go home."

* * *

An hour after they got back to the house, Abbey had changed out of the old faded jeans and sweatshirt she was wearing earlier into a pair of crisp blue jeans and a fire engine red knit sweater. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail with a thin layer of bangs swept to the side of her forehead.

She was standing at the mirror, threading a black belt around her waist when Jed walked in and approached her from behind. She looked up to see his reflection, his radiant smile catching her eye immediately. He loved the sophisticated Abbey who could charm a room full of dignitaries while dressed in a beaded ball gown, but if someone had questioned him about his favorite look for his wife, he would have said this - casual, with little makeup, and her natural beauty shining through.

He circled his hand around the thick strip of hair hanging from the back of her head and yanked. "Look at you, you're Sandra Dee. A brunette Sandra Dee, but Sandra Dee no less."

"Jed?"

"Yeah?"

"I assume that when you return to Washington, you'd like to have your fingers with you?" Still staring into the mirror, she raised her brow at him. "Let go of my ponytail."

"You never let me have any fun!" He swatted at the dangling locks before he moved to the closet.

"What are you doing?"

"Changing into a pair of sneakers. Zoey and I are going to toss around the football. She wants to learn how to play."

"No tea parties today?"

"We just finished and I'll have you know, Miss Wiseass, it was quite a nice gathering. Ken and Barbie were model guests and Zoey, as always, was a gracious hostess."

Abbey loved watching her daughters engage her husband in activities he would have considered girly before they were born. She couldn't count the number of times she'd seen him playing dress up or fooling around with their doll house or helping them churn out delicious pies from their Easy Bake Oven. Jed, himself, was a child at heart and whether he was teaching them the ins and outs of football, soccer, and basketball or joining them for a whirl around the backyard in the Barbie Convertible, he was a dad who was deeply involved in his girls' interests.

"MOM?" Liz bellowed from down the hall.

"I'm almost ready!"

"Are you stalling?" Jed asked her.

"No."

"Because if you are, I'll help you."

"I'm not." Abbey grabbed a light leather jacket. "I meant it when I told you I wanted to go to this thing. I don't know how late it's going to run."

"Don't worry about me and the girls. We'll be fine. We're going to play a little ball, eat some dinner, I'm going to give Zoey her bath, and then the three of us are going to change into our PJs and watch The Sound of Music in the family room."

"It's a school night. Don't let them stay up too late."

"They'll both be nodding off by the second verse of My Favorite Things. As for you..." Jed helped her into her jacket, then straightened her collar. "I want you to take it slow, okay? If it doesn't feel right…"

"I'll be fine."

"Yeah. I'll be waiting here with a bubble bath when you return."

"Will you be waiting in it?" she flirted.

"Maybe."

"MOM, I HAVE TO BE THERE EARLY!"

"I'm coming, Elizabeth!" Abbey hollered back.

Jed chuckled, sitting on the bed as he slipped into his sneakers. "Did you know that P.T. Barnum of Barnum & Bailey fame used to have a sign up in one of his buildings that read 'this way to the egress'? People would pay all this money just to see his exhibits and they'd read that sign and wonder what the egress was. So, thinking they'd find yet another exotic and worldly exhibit, they'd follow the sign down the hall and open the door to find themselves outside the building and having to pay to get back in. Egress means exit. Shrewd businessman, wasn't he?"

After tying his shoes, he stood up.

"And the relevance of that story would be?"

"If you feel uncomfortable, find the nearest egress and drag Lizzie with you. She won't know what's going on until she's sitting in the car."

Amused by the thought, Abbey took his hand and led him out of the bedroom.

TBC


	36. Chapter 36

Previously: Liz and Doug at the rally; Liz and Doug canvass together

Series: Snapshots of the Past

Story: Man of the House

Chapter 36

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Previously: Abbey opened up to Jed about her unresolved emotions about the night she was attacked after she had nightmare; Doug Westin met Liz met at a GOTV rally during Jed's campaign (Chapter 8 of Changes); Liz and Doug canvass together on election day (Chapter 23 of Changes) and run into each other once again on Zoey's birthday (Chapter 24 of Changes)

Summary: Liz and Abbey bond when they attend the Take Back the Night rally together; Liz is surprised to see Doug again and even more surprised when Abbey accuses her of flirting with him; Jed spends time to Ellie and Zoey; the girls try to talk their parents into a family vacation

* * *

Take Back the Night was the name of the international march to condemn violence against women. Ever since the very first rally held in Belgium in the 1970s, communities across the United States took part in the annual tradition, usually sponsored by women's groups on college campuses from Maine to California and everywhere in between.

But it was more than just a rally. The program included a candlelight vigil where survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and other crimes told their stories through moving testimonials that united them in their cause. It was a way to reclaim their safety, a way to put an end to the word 'victim,' to take back control of their lives and snatch the power of fear away from their assailants.

When Liz's high school teamed up with the University of New Hampshire's Manchester campus, the socially and politically active teen volunteered to help organize the march, making it a part of that spring's pre-prom festivities, and as vice president of her junior class, she was given full autonomy by the Student Government Association. After all, no one in the club knew the affects of violence against women better than she did.

She was only 11 years old when Abbey was attacked by a maniac out to settle a score. She remembered the night her mother didn't come home. She remembered the concern she felt when Abbey didn't call after her shift at the hospital. That concern turned into fear and as the minutes ticked by without a word, she confronted a nightmare most of her friends just couldn't comprehend.

It was Jed who went out looking for Abbey that night while Liz and four-year-old Ellie stayed with the sitter. She'd never forget how every time the phone rang, Ellie, sensing something was wrong but not quite understanding what, would run over to answer it, her voice optimistic with the hope that it was Abbey.

"Mommy?" she'd answer over and over again in her sweet childlike tone, only to be disappointed into tears when she was greeted by a stranger on the line.

The police eventually located Abbey, who had stumbled into the hospital and collapsed after being traumatized by a man she didn't even know. She hadn't been raped, but the emotional scars left by her attacker changed her life - and Liz's - forever. So when the high school junior learned that she could play a part in a rally known for supporting women like her mother, she jumped at the chance, not only for herself, but as a heartfelt tribute to the woman she had loved and admired since the day she was born.

Abbey was proud of her. It was one thing to join sports teams and school clubs, but taking on something like a Take Back the Night rally when so many other teenagers turned an apathetic ear, said a lot about Liz and her willingness to fight for causes she considered important. It was a testament to the civic-minded duty that was as much a part of her as her long brown hair, and it was proof positive that her determination was her guiding force.

If only she could scrape together some of the spunk her daughter had, Abbey thought as she tried to calm the anxiety that had crept up on her during the drive. She wasn't yet ready to battle her demons. Not in public anyway. She needed more time to come to terms with the impact of her attack before she could even think about sharing it with others.

Liz turned the curb to pull into the parking lot at UNH, stopped the car, then noticed her mom sitting in the passenger's seat, pressing two fingers to her wrist. "What are you doing?"

"Checking my pulse."

"Mom."

"You'll be happy to know it's returning to normal."

"Admit it, I'm a better drive than you give me credit for."

Abbey smiled at her in way that merely acknowledged her statement. "The jury's still out."

Pulling the key out of the ignition, Liz opened her door and got out of the car. She knew this rally could be hard for Abbey; she knew how much strength it took just to come. And even if she hadn't known it before, one look at Abbey's face now would have told her all that and more.

"You don't have to if you don't want," she offered.

"What?"

"You don't have to go to this thing. It's okay. We can get back in the car and I'll take you home."

"What are you talking about? I want to be here."

"Are you just saying that because of me?"

"No." Abbey took a beat, then added, "Well, not completely. I am here because of you. But I'm glad I'm here, and that's because of me. I want to be here. Just don't make me get up and give one of those testimonials, okay?"

"I promise," Liz replied sincerely. "Mom?"

"Yeah?"

"I know how awful it was for you when that jerk got out of jail. And with Dad living in DC, it must have made things worse. You were scared, weren't you?"

"It showed?"

"No. You never showed it."

"I must have shown it if you knew."

"I knew because I know you." Elizabeth was many things. Perceptive was definitely one of them.

"The only time I was worried was the first night he was out. I had to get used to the idea."

"And you did. It was great, the way you handled it. Other women might have been terrified of every shadow lurking around the corner, but you went on with life as if he wasn't even worth your time, worth your sanity. I think that's incredible."

"Are you buttering me up for something?"

"No. I just think you're super cool, that's all. I hope that one day, I'm as strong as you."

Liz had no idea how much it touched Abbey to hear that. During the drive, she had been wishing she could be more like her daughter and here Liz was wanting exactly the same. For the first time in a long time, Abbey felt as close to her as she had when she was a little girl, when every playtime involved a romp through her parent's closet to wobble around in high heels and one of Abbey's dresses so she could pretend she was mother, and bedtime, which was never complete without a goodnight kiss and a soft-spoken pledge from Lizzie that she wanted to be just like her mom when she grew up.

Wrapping her arm around her, Abbey brought Liz close enough to press a kiss to her forehead and said, "You already are."

Together, the duo forged ahead towards the registration post.

* * *

"Daddy, how come when you see birds sitting on a wire, there's always one bird that's all by itself?"

"I don't know, Zoey. That's a really good question."

Jed sat on the side of the tub to help Zoey with her bath. He missed this time with her. When Liz and Ellie were young, Abbey was so busy in med school and residency that evening baths were usually his responsibility. He never complained. It was a time to bond with his daughters, to talk about cartoons or storybooks or anything else they wanted to tell him. Now that he spent most of his nights in DC, he had to depend on the weekends to connect similarly with Zoey.

"How come in Snow White, Snow White falls down and dies without swallowing the bite of the apple?"

"She does swallow the apple."

"Uh uh!" Zoey insisted with an earnest shake of her head. "I saw with my own eyes! She doesn't swallow, she only bites."

"Yeah? Hmm, I don't know then. Maybe it's the kind of poison that travels through her lips?"

The five-year-old scrunched up her face. "What kind of poison is that?"

"I really don't know." He poured a pail of water over her head to rinse the conditioner off her hair.

"How come the TV doesn't have a channel one?"

"Well...um..." Determined not to give her another shrug of his shoulders, Jed searched his brain for a decent answer, but when he couldn't come up with one, he was left with only one option. "I don't know, Zoey."

"Daddy?"

"Yeah?"

"What DO you know?"

"For your information, missy, I know a lot."

She giggled in response to his tone and to being called 'missy.' "Like what?"

"Like..." He retrieved a fluffy blue towel from the hook behind the door. "I know that in five minutes, The Sound of Music is on and if I don't get you out of here, we're going to miss the beginning."

"I don't wanna miss it." Zoey stood up and held out her arms for Jed to pick her up out of the tub.

"Yeah, that's what I thought." Jed lifted her out. "Let's go get your jammies on."

* * *

Back at the rally, Abbey mingled as Liz helped guests sign in to get an official headcount. She was working dutifully alongside a faculty member from UNH and two coeds from the college's Women's Issues club, but as the line dwindled down, she was left by herself to help the lone male standing in front of her.

"Boy, you really get around," he said.

Liz glanced up from her clipboard to address him. "Is that a pick-up line of yours? Because if it is, I'm about clobber you with my clipboard."

It was Doug, the young man she had originally met when speaking during a political rally for Jed's congressional campaign at UNH last fall. He still looked the same to her - brown hair, brown eyes, and a silly grin that made him look clueless and cavalier at the same time.

"It's not a pick-up line, just an observation."

"What are you doing here?"

"Helping to take back the night?" he replied, his hands stuffed in his pockets.

"This is for women."

"And men. They're allowed to come."

"I didn't say they weren't allowed to come. I'm just surprised that you'd be interested in this."

"I'm joining my sister. She...um..." he stumbled slightly. "She was date-raped her first year in college."

"Oh." Liz handed him the sign-in sheet and a pen. "I'm sorry, I didn't know. I thought you were here just to mock it or something."

"I would never do that."

"I get that now."

"What else can I enlighten you about? Or would you rather stand there and think me a jerk instead of accepting the possibility that your assumptions about me are wrong and that I'm quite a nice guy and you'd be head over heels in love with me if you gave me a chance?"

"You see, that's the attitude that made me doubt you."

"What attitude?"

"That arrogant, superior air of egocentric narcism." She was outraged when he chuckled. "Why are you laughing?"

"It's amusing how many words you need to call me vain."

"That's because you wouldn't understand if I used only one."

"Elizabeth," Abbey intervened after she overheard the banter between the two. "Do you want to introduce me?"

"This is Doug Westin," Liz told her.

Doug extended his hand to Abbey. "We've already met, Mrs. Bartlet. I was one of the volunteers on your husband's campaign last year."

"Oh, well, it's a pleasure to see you again."

Wanting to clarify, Liz added, "He only volunteered so he could hit on me."

"I did not. How would you know my motives?"

"Because Teri said that your first night on, you asked when election day was."

"So?"

"So, why would anyone who really cares about a political campaign not even know when election day was? You even told me at the GOTV rally that politics wasn't your thing and that you weren't even planning to vote."

"So I changed my mind. Sue me."

"You only showed up at the campaign because I turned you down at the rally."

"You didn't turn me down. You spent time explaining - in a partisan way, mind you - why I should vote for your dad after you made me register. Is it my fault you were so convincing that I had to visit campaign headquarters to see what all the fuss was about?"

"And to hit on me."

"You wish."

"Then why did you manipulate your way into my canvassing group on election day?"

"I knew you liked me. I was trying to do you a favor and make it easy for you."

"He's loopy," Liz told Abbey.

"She's in denial about the fact that she thinks I'm cute," Doug countered.

Liz ignored his statement and talked to her mother once again. "He's proof positive there's a clueless gene on the Y chromosome."

"She came into the bakery where I work to beg me to bake a birthday cake for her little sister in under an hour. She said I was her hero."

"You're such a liar! I never called you my hero!"

Caught in the middle, Abbey held up her hands. "Okay, enough. I had no idea you two had such a history."

"It's not something I'm proud of," Liz assured her as she got a look at the line forming behind Doug. "If you don't mind, I need to check these people in."

"I'll get out of the way, but I'll find you afterwards. I have more to say."

"I'll be sure to get my hands on a pair of earplugs in the meantime."

Amused, Doug roamed towards the amphitheater in the quad while Liz began greeting the people behind him, one eye steadily watching him as he put his arms around a woman she assumed must have been his sister.

"I have never seen you behave that way," Abbey whispered to her daughter.

"He gets under my skin."

"Then why are you blushing?"

"What?" Horrified, Liz covered her cheeks with her hands.

"And so was he. Now can you please explain to me what kind of flirting that was?"

"MOM! It was NOT flirting!"

"It was, Elizabeth. Your face is as red as my sweater."

"Flirting is supposed to be sweet and kind."

"Traditionally, yes. But when have you ever been traditional?"

"Mom!"

"Even when you were hammering him over the head, you had a big smile on your face and so did he. It confused the hell out of me."

"He's disturbed."

"Then why do you like him?"

"I don't like him."

"Baby doll, you can deny it if you want, but I know what I saw."

"Are you trying to set us up or something?"

"I'm doing no such thing." Abbey impishly denied her intentions.

"He's a 19-year-old sophomore in college."

That did it. Given his behavior, Abbey had assumed Doug was Liz's age. But now that she knew the truth, she wiped the grin off her face and in her strictest motherly tone said, "Forget I said anything. You're not allowed to talk to him ever again."

Liz didn't admit it, but Abbey was right. There was something in Doug that piqued her interest. His personality intrigued her and though she hated feeling even a little bit attracted to him, the truth was, she liked the way he always managed to engage her in conversation, even if it was the kind of choppy and pointed banter they had just exchanged. He was different than the boys she was used to. He wasn't pulling his prince charming act, he wasn't falling all over himself to ask her out or to get her phone number. He was just himself and, at least on some level, that appealed to her.

* * *

At the farmhouse, Jed was camping out on the large plush sofa in the family room watching The Sound of Music with Ellie and Zoey. He expected both girls to fall asleep before it ended, but no matter how many times they had seen it, sleeping was out of the question. As the movie reached its finale and the old grandfather clock struck 9 p.m., he turned off the television and grabbed the large bowl that held leftover kernels of popcorn.

"Time for bed. Come on, I'll walk you both up." His announcement fell on deaf ears. He wandered out of the family room by himself, returning seconds later to find Ellie and Zoey still on the sofa. "Ladies?"

"I hate going to bed," Ellie whined as she reluctantly rose to her feet.

"You can hate it even in dreamland."

"Don't think I won't," she grumbled on her way out of the family room.

"Zoey?"

"I don't wanna go to bed."

"It's past your bedtime."

"I know."

"It's a school night."

"I don't wanna go to bed."

"Well, let's see. It's a school night and it's past your bedtime. You really think there's going to be much negotiation here?"

"Let's play tag!"

Typical, he thought. Zoey was a wiz at trying to get out of going to bed. "Not tonight."

She smacked his arm and fled before he knew what hit him. "You're it!"

"ZOEY!" Jed shouted. "Get back here!"

"You have to catch me!"

"You're asking for it!" Looking up to the heavens, he sighed, and then took off after her.

"You can't catch me," she taunted. "You can't catch me!"

Zoey ran into the living room, circling the sofa once and the loveseat twice, followed by a hurdle over the coffee table as Jed chased her. He paused on the side opposite the preschooler, taking predatory steps as if he was about to trap her behind the end table. Father and daughter squared off for a solid minute before Jed grabbed her by her arms and tossed her into the air.

"I GOT YOU! Now what are you going to do?"

"DADDY!" she giggled and shrieked so loud, she lost her breath.

Jed showed her no mercy. He tickled her relentlessly. Only when she started coughing from the excitement, did he ease up. "You okay?"

Zoey coughed once more. "My stomach hurts."

Holding her in his arms, he pushed her soft strawberry bangs off her forehead. "I'm sorry. Let's go brush your teeth and then I'll read you a story."

Zoey held on to him, her upper body twisting to see in front of her as he carried her toward the stairs. Just as they approached the foyer, they heard the sound of keys jiggling the lock. With one arm around Zoey, Jed extended his other to turn the knob and help Liz and Abbey in.

"Is this your idea of putting them to bed on time?" Abbey held out her hands to her youngest daughter, disapprovingly shaking her head at her husband as he transferred Zoey to her arms.

"We're getting there."

"Where's Ellie?" Liz asked.

"Upstairs, getting ready for bed."

Liz ran up the steps in search of her sister.

"Mommy, my tummy hurts. Daddy was too rough with me."

Abbey cocked a brow at Jed.

"Zoey Patricia Bartlet." With just the tone of his voice, Jed challenged her.

"You were!"

That devilish twinkle in her eye didn't go unnoticed by Abbey. If Jed had been too rough with her, it was undoubtedly because Zoey wanted him to be. She loved her baby girl, but she was fully aware that Zoey had a definite, though harmless, mischievous streak inside her and the object of her playfully wayward schemes was usually Jed. He was so good-natured about the way his daughters manipulated him that it made him a fun target for all three of them.

"Tell your mother the truth." Jed's stare moved from Zoey to Abbey. "She's trying to get me in trouble."

Abbey feigned skepticism. "Not my little angel. She'd never do that."

"She's a devil in disguise, I tell you."

"Well, I think it's time I get this little devil upstairs."

Liz and Ellie bounded down the stairs before Abbey could take her first step.

"No, wait!" Liz demanded. "Family meeting."

"Now?" Jed glanced at his watch.

"Yeah, it's important."

"It's late. You guys have school in the morning."

"Please, Dad. You're leaving for Washington tomorrow afternoon. If we don't do it now, we have to wait a whole week."

Abbey set Zoey down and she and Jed agreed to follow their girls to the living room where Liz quickly set up a presentation easel with a map of the United States on the first page of the pad. Florida had been highlighted and the script beside it read, "Reasons for a Bartlet Family Vacation in Florida."

They knew they were being cornered with a plan that had obviously been hatched long before they were summoned to the meeting, long before the rally even. They took their seats on the sofa anyway, and listened with an open mind.

"As you know, Ellie just won a trip to Space Camp," Liz began. "The three of us think this could be something the whole family could get into. It'll be educational, fun, and even romantic. So sit back, relax, and listen to all the reasons we think a trip to Florida is exactly what we all need this summer!"

Ellie continued where Liz left off with a nod of support from her big sister. "First off, we can all learn something at Cape Canaveral. Did you know that they have a tour and a program for kids Zoey's age? They have a museum and a whole seminar on the history of space just for you, Daddy. Also, if we all go to Florida, then it takes the pressure off me. I only have one extra ticket and I don't know who to give it to. I can't choose between my own mother and father. If we all go, I won't have to."

She flipped the page to a picture that immediately brought back fond memories for Jed and Abbey - 10-year-old Lizzie and 4-year-old Ellie, each wearing Mickey Mouse hats and sunglasses and standing on either side of Cinderella in front the enchanted castle at Disney World.

It was Zoey's turn to speak now. The five-year-old replaced her sister at the easel just in time to deliver a speech Liz had spent two days teaching her. "I've never been to Disney World and I think that's very unfair because you already took Ellie and Lizzie. I'm not in any of the pictures and I feel left out and I always will unless we go back."

Abbey tilted her head sympathetically while Jed crossed his arms over his chest with a tight-lipped grin. Zoey had obviously been coached Elizabeth, he guessed. His eldest daughter was notorious for knowing exactly how to reach her parents to get what she wanted.

"I want to see It's A Small World," Zoey went on, "and the Peter Pan ride and the teacups and the Disney Castle and the parade and Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse and Cinderella and Snow White and Goofy and..."

Liz approached the young girl, but Zoey fought her off, insisting she had more to say. Liz bent down to whisper into Zoey's ear, presumably promising a game of Candyland or something to get her to end her lecture. Zoey agreed to whatever Liz bribed her with, flipped the page once again - this time to a picture of a white sandy beach and sapphire blue water - and handed the presentation back to Elizabeth. Liz took her place at the easel and led Jed and Abbey into the last part of the presentation.

"The beaches in Florida are completely different from the beaches here in New England. There's more sand, more sun, and a lot more waves down there. Think about all the family time we'll have, playing out in the water all day long, building sand castles and burying Dad at the water's edge so he can scream that we're going to let him drown in the tide, the way he always does."

Abbey looked over at Jed, chuckling. He pinched her arm.

"And at night," Liz told them after she turned the page to a picture of a man and a woman holding hands on a moonlit beach. "Think of the romantic walks along the water. You could cuddle up on the balcony of our hotel room and watch the sun rise. It'd be too cold to that in New Hampshire. In Florida, you could even swim in the beach at two o'clock in the morning if you wanted." She turned another page. "Something else that I feel I must bring to your attention is that the University of Miami is on my list of possible colleges. During this trip, we can take a tour of the campus so that I know what I'm getting myself into if I decide to go there. And if you guys don't wanna come, that's fine too. I'll just rent a car and drive down to Miami by myself."

That little statement spurred protest in Jed. "All right, hold on."

"Wait, Dad. I'm almost finished."

"It's my turn to speak."

"Mom?"

Abbey laid her hand over Jed's. "Let her finish and then we'll have our say."

He grouched as he sat back.

Liz turned yet another page. "Did you know that Everglades National Park is only a few hours away? They have boat rides and wilderness campsites with great hiking trails for Mom." And finally, one last page. "Last but not least, what trip to Florida would be complete without a shopping spree, right Mom? There are great places to shop in Daytona, Miami, and even Orlando. Remember when we went to St. Armands Circle in Sarasota? Dad, you bought Mom that jade necklace she still wears. I think it's time for an upgrade."

"I think it's time for a muzzle," he said.

"Grow some patience, Dad," Liz teased in a similar tone. "So in conclusion, the three of us think a vacation in Florida would a pretty good deal for the whole Bartlet clan. We hope you'll agree that it's a trip we can't afford to miss!"

"Is that it?" Abbey asked.

"Yes."

"Are you ready to hear what we have to say?"

Feeling the bad news coming on, Ellie sighed, "I guess."

"Good, come over here." Abbey held her hand out to Zoey and Ellie to invite them to sit beside her on the sofa while Jed scooted over to make room for Liz to sit between him and Abbey. She then looked over to Jed. "You want to go first or should I?"

"I'll go first." Jed addressed Liz. "Regardless of anything else we say here, I want you to know that you renting a car and driving to Miami by yourself was a non-starter, no matter what we thought about the rest of the itinerary."

"It's for college."

"Fine. Like I've been saying all along, give me a list of three colleges that you want to see outside of New England and I'll buy the plane tickets and take you there myself. But you driving around Florida without me or your mom is a fantasy."

"I'm almost an adult."

"'Almost' being the operative word. If you want to visit UM, we'll go together."

"In July?"

"Sure, as long as you understand that while we're at Cape Canaveral, I'm going to be with Ellie during the days and that means that you have to stay in the hotel room until we get out of the Space Camp activities."

"WHAT? Why can't I hang out at the beach? It's only a short drive away!"

"Forget it. I don't want you running around by yourself getting into trouble. If you come along, you'll either tour the museum right there at the space center or stay in the hotel until the evenings."

"Every single day? What's the point of even going?"

"The point, Elizabeth, is to learn something about space travel."

"I don't care about space travel," she complained.

"Well, then, I guess you'll stay in New Hampshire."

"What about UM?"

"In the fall, we'll meet with UM admissions people if that's what you want."

"The fall? Dad, this was the summer I was going to learn to surf!"

"Since when?"

"Since Ellie won the science fair." She strengthened her voice after Jed laughed, "Hey, just because it hasn't been a lifelong goal or anything doesn't mean it's any less important to me. Anyway, if we all go, Zoey and I can hang out with Mom while you're with Ellie."

Jed passed the torch over to Abbey. "You want to weigh in?"

"I do," she said. "Ellie, we never would have made you choose between us."

"Then we're all gonna go?"

"No, sweetheart."

"Then how will we decide which one of you is going?"

"It's already decided. I'm afraid I won't be able to make it."

"You won't?"

"Space Camp is in July. I'll be training a new crop of residents."

July was a very busy month for Abbey and though she might have been able to pull some strings and plead with her colleagues to take over the residency training, she decided not to. It would have been unfair to them, she thought, and since Jed would be finishing up his legislative session in the early summer, letting him chaperone Ellie to Cape Canaveral would allow the two of them the chance to experience it all together. After all, he enjoyed the subject of space exploration as much as Ellie did and certainly much more than Abbey did.

But while Abbey plotted out her reasons with the best of intentions, Ellie was disappointed about what it all meant. She glanced up at her parents. "I guess that's it then. We won't be able to talk you into it if Mom has to work."

"Mommy always has to work!" Zoey huffed.

"She doesn't always have to work," Jed corrected his youngest daughter. "But this year, we planned our summer vacation in August so she worked it out with Dr. Nolan to take the time off then. If she changes it now, he'll have to change his plans too and that's not exactly fair, is it?"

"No," Liz agreed.

"What about Disney World?" That was Zoey's top priority.

"As for Disney World," Abbey started, "Are you girls forgetting that you sat us down and begged us to take you to Busch Gardens for spring break?"

Ellie chimed in to remind her, "That's spring break. This is over the summer."

"This summer's trip is already planned. We planned it last year, remember? We agreed on Yosemite."

"Oh yeah."

"How could you forget that?" Jed exaggerated his shock. "We have a whole week of hikes and bike rides and sight-seeing planned. Yosemite's going to be so much fun, you're going to be begging to go every year!"

"It won't be as fun as Disney World," Zoey assured him.

"Disney World in July is a place you don't want to be. It's crowded, it's hot, it's humid. We were there all of ten minutes last time and I felt like I was breathing water. I swear, I thought I was going to grow gills." He looked to Liz for the truly horrifying statement, "It's terrible hair weather."

Abbey knew what Jed was doing, making it sound miserable in an effort to cheer them up. She decided to help him. "You probably don't remember, Lizzie, but the lines were very long and both you and Ellie got sunburned."

It didn't work.

If they were saying no to all three of them, it wouldn't have been a problem, but denying Liz and Zoey from tagging along on a trip that Ellie was going on was a bitter pill to swallow. Confronted by the two long faces before him, Jed looked to Abbey for the go-ahead to reach a compromise with their girls.

"You know," he said, "Yosemite is in California. There's a small possibility that maybe we could be persuaded to get there a couple of days earlier than planned, spend a day surfing on the coast, and stop at Disneyland on our way to the park."

And suddenly, those long faces beamed with enthusiasm as Liz, who had been slouching, sat bolt upright. "REALLY?"

Ellie asked again to be sure. "We can go to Disneyland?"

"Hang on, I said MAYBE. It's not a done deal. You still have some persuading to do."

"Fine, anything," Liz volunteered. "What kind of persuasion is needed?"

Abbey jumped in to answer her. "We'll talk about it in the morning. You guys have to get to bed so that you can wake up early enough tomorrow for a big family breakfast, the way we used to."

"But tomorrow's Monday. We always just grab something on the weekdays."

"That's why I said 'the way we used to.' Over your bacon and eggs, you can convince us to leave for California a day or two earlier than planned."

"Pancakes too?" Ellie asked.

"Yes, pancakes too, just for you. But you need to go to bed right now, deal?"

In agreement, Zoey, Ellie, and Liz accepted the deal, then headed upstairs as Jed and Abbey followed them to the foot of the stairs.

"I'm so excited," Ellie gushed.

"Surfing in Malibu, can you believe it?"

As they hit the top landing and rounded the corner to their bedrooms, Zoey's voice echoed, "Is Disneyland like Disney World?"

Once they were out of earshot, Jed grinned adoringly at his wife. "Thanks."

"What for?"

"Breakfast in the morning. I miss that...a lot."

"I know you do." She took his hand and swung their arms back and forth. "By the way, this is what I was talking about before, in the orchard. You spoil them rotten, and not just Zoey, all of them."

"Guilty as charged." Jed did spoil them. He wanted them to have the childhood he didn't, to never spend a moment of their young lives feeling sad.

"They're going to think they can run every vacation from now on."

"They do that anyway. And don't you dare sound all accusatory," he said. "You were an accessory to this crime."

"Yeah, we need to reassess this good-cop-bad-cop thing. I'd like to be the hero for once."

"Okay. I'll go up there and tell them the deal's off and you can come in after a few minutes and save the day."

"I don't want to play mind games."

"Well then, screw this time. Next time, I'll be the ogre who puts them in time-out and you come in and offer them candy."

"Jed." She was less than impressed with that arrangement as well.

"What do you want from me?"

"Nothing." She smiled.

"How'd it go tonight?"

"Well. Better than I thought actually."

"Good."

"You're my touchstone, you know that? I would have been a wreck all day without you."

"I didn't do anything."

"Yes, you did. Promise me you'll always be there to knock some sense into me when I start to have a meltdown like I did this morning."

"Is that all you want?" Their arms entangled, he squeezed their fingers together until their wedding rings clinked. "I've been the ying to your yang for 18 years, Sweet Knees. You just try to stop me now."

TBC


	37. Chapter 37

Series: Snapshots of the Past

Series: Snapshots of the Past

Story: Man of the House

Chapter 37

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Previously: Liz and Abbey bonded at the Take Back the Night rally; Liz ran into Doug again; the girls tried to talk their parents into a vacation to Florida; Abbey had a run-in with a med student who accused her of sexism (Chapter 34)

Summary: Abbey becomes a mentor; Amanada sees a different side to Abbey and realizes she was wrong about her; Abbey starts a very important conversation with Zoey

Author's Note: Thanks to Sharon for the medical information.

* * *

A surgeon's day begins early, Abbey learned when she was in medical school. All these years later, she was still getting used to the schedule. It was just after 7 a.m. and she had already been at work for more than two hours and was now hunched over the counter at the nurse's station signing patient orders following her morning rounds.

Off to her side, Dr. Watkins, a second-year general surgery resident, had huddled together his team of med students to assign them to scheduled operations, just as he had every day since becoming a full-fledged physician. But on this day, one member of the team was missing and Watkins didn't even seem to notice.

Abbey, overhearing snippets of talk between the doctor and his male pupils, thought nothing of it at first. She continued to scribble on her chart. But when she caught a glimpse of that absentee student running toward her group moments later, she took a break from her own chore to watch and listen to what happened next.

Amanda McKenzie waved a stack of papers in her hand, announcing to her peers, "I got the labs!"

"The labs?" Watkins questioned. "I thought we wouldn't have those for another hour."

"I rushed them along."

"Whenever I try that, they kick me out. I don't know how you did it, but good job. How do they look?"

"Low white blood count, high ANA. And check it out, he has a negative RA Factor."

"What does that tell you? Do you think the original diagnosis was wrong?" Watkins already knew the answer to that. He was testing her.

"No, Sir," she said confidently. "I think he definitely has rheumatoid arthritis. The X-rays and other blood tests back us up on that. But RA Factor is positive in only 80 of RA patients. I think he's part of the other twenty percent."

"What if he's in remission?" another student asked.

"He's not," Amanda assured him. "Look at the elevated SED rate. His RA is pretty aggressive right now. He's going to need more than just today's procedure...which I think needs to be done under caution. And then afterwards, we should probably talk to him about joint replacement."

Watkins slapped the labs into the folder he was holding. "Good call, McKenzie."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, you nailed it. All right, I've got Johnson and Williams with me. Harrison, see if you can find Dr. Eligon. He's doing heart valve surgery. He might need some help. We'll meet back here in a few hours."

Disappointed that Watkins didn't assign her to any surgeries, Amanda spoke up. "Dr. Watkins, may I assist you? I'd like to help with the RA patient."

"I'm sorry. I already promised it to Johnson and Williams."

"But I got the labs, I interpreted them, I researched what we'd be doing. I know more about this case than either of them do."

"Sorry. I already promised them."

"Fine, what else can I do?"

"Right now?" Watkins checked his watch and shrugged. "Study for the shelf exam, hang out. You can clean up the lounge if you get bored."

Abbey sighed angrily at that. After her last encounter with Amanda, she expected to be the last person in the world who would defend her to anyone else. She surprised even herself when she realized she couldn't stop herself. Amanda had warned her, had told her about doctors she felt were discriminating against her. But tempers had flared and Abbey didn't give her accusations much credence - until now.

Slamming her chart closed, she approached the group. "Hi there."

"Dr. Bartlet." Watkins gave her a respectful greeting.

"If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to borrow one of your student doctors. I'm doing a CABG this afternoon and I could use the help."

"No problem. Harrison, you're with Dr. Bartlet."

"Actually, I'd prefer Amanda Watkins."

Remembering the rocky incident with Abbey, Amanda immediately became suspicious. "Is this a trick?"

"Yes, Amanda, you're being set up." Abbey's harmless grin gave away her sarcasm, but there was still an edge to her voice. "Dr. Watkins?"

"Yeah, that's fine with me."

"Good. And I'm going to assume that your remark a minute ago was just a lapse in judgment, a slip of the tongue. I'm going to assume you know that female doctors - as well as students - are good at more than just tidying up the physician's lounge."

"Of course. I didn't mean..."

"Don't let it happen again, all right? From now on, I expect you'll go out of your way to insure that you don't give off even the perception of impropriety."

Embarrassed in front of the other students, Watkins turned three shades of red as he replied to his superior, "I will."

"Good."

If there was one thing Abbey wouldn't stand for, it was sexism, and that was the only explanation she could string together for Watkins's behavior in the scenario she'd just witnessed. Amanda had done all the leg work, had researched the case, and had gotten the labs that Watkins, himself, couldn't get. Hospital etiquette would ordinarily dictate she'd be the one to scrub in on the procedure. Leaving her out without reason provoked Abbey's suspicions. After all, this wasn't foreign territory to her. She had gone through that kind of discrimination as a third-year student and she wasn't about to stand by and watch another woman experience what she did, even if that other woman was someone who had assaulted her with accusations of sexism just two weeks earlier.

She walked away with a parting glance, the kind that bore into the eyes of the subject of her scorn, telling him without a word that she knew what he was doing. Watkins watched quietly as she left.

"About the set-up thing," Amanda started, following Abbey down the corridor, "I just assumed that because of what happened before, you wouldn't be inclined to work with me."

"Do you have any idea how much trouble you can make for yourself if you operate on assumptions all day long?"

"I'm starting to."

Abbey stopped outside a patient's room. "You were wrong. I'm not reluctant to work with you. But let's get one thing straight. When I asked you to call my husband, it wasn't because you're a woman. It was because you were a student and all you were doing was observing that day. I was in a tough spot, I couldn't scrub out, and I needed him to know that I was safe and sound at the hospital. It wasn't even in the same universe as what happened with Dr. Watkins out there."

"Point taken."

"I hope so. Don't ever lose your temper like that again. You may not be my secretary, but I'm not your punching bag either. Are we clear?"

"Yes."

"Good. Surgery's at eleven. O.R. 2. Don't be late." She opened the door and breezed right in, leaving Amanda out in the hall to hear the first few words she spoke before the door closed in her face. "Mrs. Jardine, how are you feeling today?"

* * *

All scrubbed in and ready for action, Amanda strutted into O.R. 2 just as a team of doctors began crowding around the anesthetized man on the operating table. Her job was to watch and learn, she thought. To be seen and not heard, that's what she'd been doing throughout her surgical rotation. What she didn't know was that Abbey wasn't the kind of teacher she was used to. Abbey didn't believe in passive learning. Quite the opposite, in fact. She often let students hold the retractor, she frequently pointed things out to them, and she always allowed them to ask questions.

Sometimes, she even asked a few questions of her own.

"Amanda?"

"Yes?"

"Why am I choosing to use the saphenous vein for this bypass graft instead of the left internal mammary artery?"

"Don't we always use the saphenous vein?"

"Not always. It's within the standard of care to use the internal mammary artery. I'm asking why I choose not to do that?"

This was called pimping. It was common practice among attendings and med students. When used with the best of intentions - to prepare the student for upcoming rotational shelf exams or the national boards - it was a significant learning tool. Though some doctors enjoyed hazing students by challenging them with ridiculously difficult questions, more involved and more detailed than the student's breadth of knowledge, Abbey believed in grooming these aspiring physicians by giving them confidence in what they already knew and helping them connect the dots with what they had still to learn.

But when she asked Amanda this elementary question, she was surprised by the response.

"I don't know," the redheaded student answered. "I don't know why."

Abbey wanted to give her one more chance. Her eyes peeking out over her mask, she calmly asked, "Think about it. What would be the benefit, do you think, to using the artery instead of the vein?"

"I just...I don't know." Amanda grew flustered with her failure.

"I didn't know everything as a third-year either." Abbey invited the young woman to lean over the table so she could expose the anatomical structures with her surgical tools. "Okay, so the internal mammary arteries remain open longer than venous grafts. On the downside, because of their length, they can only be used on diseases located at the proximal coronary arteries. Do you see where this vessel attaches right here?"

"Wow. It looks a little different from what we saw on the cadavers in my gross anatomy lab."

"Yeah, it probably does. If you follow it down like this..."

And so, for the first time since her surgical rotation began, Amanda got an up-close lesson she wouldn't have found in any textbook, and as she tried to absorb the information Abbey threw at her during the procedure, she realized that her experience with other doctors had clouded her judgment. She had misjudged Abbey Bartlet and for that, she felt genuine remorse.

* * *

A few hours later, Abbey had changed from her soiled scrubs into a pair of slacks, a light sweater, and her white coat, and was sitting in her office charting patients following afternoon rounds. She glanced up when she heard footsteps at her door.

"I'm sorry to interrupt," Amanda began.

"What is it?"

"I just wanted to say thank you for letting me help with the surgery. I should have been better prepared."

"Why weren't you?" Abbey asked. "You knew about the procedure four hours ahead of time. Why didn't you do any reading?"

"I did. I guess I just didn't pay attention to all the details. You know, other doctors...they tend to ask really hard questions, things that I haven't even been introduced to yet. So I focused on the more complex concepts instead of the basics."

"You can't understand the complex concepts without the basics."

"I was cramming and hoping for the best."

"Look, I'm not like other doctors. My job isn't to embarrass you, it's to help you bridge the gap between what you learned your first two years of med school and what you'll learn during these next two years."

Amanda was relieved to hear that. "You march to the beat of your own drummer around here, don't you?"

"I'm not the only one who believes in training students, Amanda. You might have had some crummy mentors before, but don't paint us all with the same brush, okay? There are a lot of talented doctors in this building who enjoy teaching. This is a teaching hospital, after all."

"I'll try to do better from now on. I'll read to understand."

"Good. Now that you know how I operate, you know what to aim for next time. Teaching and learning is a two-way street. I can't do my job unless you do yours."

"Will there be a next time?"

"I don't know, that's up to you. If you want to work with me, there are a couple of ground rules that I won't compromise. One is that you always show up prepared. You research every case, from the big picture to the minute details. That's the only way I can fill in the gaps for you and count on you to actually assist me. Second, understand that you're a med student, not a doctor, not a nurse. If I need someone to run something to the lab during the procedure, you're the one I'm going to call on. I won't be asking you to make phone calls or run personal errands, but legitimate medical scut work is fair game. Can you live with that?"

"Of course."

"How many more weeks do you have left on your surgery rotation?"

"Five. I'd really like to spend them with you."

"Okay then. I'll work it out with your clerkship director. I'm going to be out this next week on vacation, but a week from Monday, you report to me."

"Yes ma'am." Looking pale and uneasy, Amanda stalled for a beat before asking the question that had been on her mind for the past fourteen days. "Um...I'm just wondering if you filed a report about what happened between us?"

"You mean about the fact that you barged into the physician's lounge and told me off? No, I didn't."

"Do you mind if I ask why?"

"Did you know that if you have a professional misconduct citation in your file, you're required to report it on residency applications, fellowship applications, and every time you renew your license?"

"No."

"Now you do. I didn't file a report because I think you're too young and inexperienced to be saddled with that for the rest of your career. But if it ever happens again, I won't have any other choice. And be careful because there are other doctors in this hospital who wouldn't think twice about reporting you for one offense."

"Thank you for letting it slide. I'm sorry about what happened."

"Apology accepted. Let's move on." Abbey looked up when Amanda sighed. "What?"

"I didn't expect you to forgive and forget just like that."

"Don't get ahead of yourself. Forgiveness I can do. But I've got a memory like an elephant." Abbey grinned. "Just ask my husband."

* * *

The clock was nearing 6:30 that evening when Abbey made it back home. From the moment she stepped into the foyer, she took in the aroma of Mrs. Wilburforce's special salmon patties and tater tots, a scent that lured her immediately to the kitchen after she slipped out of her jacket and set her bag on the console.

"Mmmmm, if you're making what I think you are..." Taking a peak, she smiled accusingly. "And here I thought I told you to feed my children vegetables."

Mrs. Wilburforce replied, "On a normal day, maybe I would, but Zoey loves my tater tots and she's had a hard day. I wanted to cheer her up."

"What do you mean a hard day? What happened?"

"When I picked her up from school, she was terribly upset. It seems her teacher gave all the kids Easter eggs made out of construction paper. They were to use stickers and crayons to decorate them and then she promised to help them paint their names on it using stencil. Zoey got tired of waiting for the teacher to get to her so she decided to do hers on her own. Long story short, she made a mess of it."

"And she's upset about it?"

"It's what happened next that upset her. After she ruined the first egg, her teacher gave her another one. This time, her teacher tried to hold her hand, but Zoey still insisted on doing it alone."

Abbey shook her head at her daughter's stubbornness. "She always wants to be so independent. What happened?"

"She started to stray outside the stencil line and onto the plastic. A classmate made fun of her, told her that's not how you're supposed to do it. Zoey got frustrated and scribbled all over her egg and then crumpled it up and threw it away. She just put her head down for the rest of the class, even though her teacher offered another egg."

"She was embarrassed because she couldn't do it," Abbey said quietly, as if speaking to herself.

"If you ask me, I think this kid who poked at her was baiting her. She said he was on her case all day. She pointed him out to me when I picked her up. The little pee-wee was running around picking on all the little girls. You know the type, the class clown who acts out to get attention?"

"I don't think he was the problem, Mrs. Wilburforce."

"What do you mean?"

"How's Zoey now?"

"She was fine until Ellie and Elizabeth got home."

"Why? What did they have to do with it?"

"Ellie ran upstairs to show her sisters the puppet she made at school and she and Liz started talking about setting up an Easter puppet show for you and Mr. Bartlet. That reminded Zoey about her ruined eggs. I think she was planning to surprise you with it." Mrs. Wilburforce joined Abbey at the table. "So why don't you think it was the kid that was the problem?"

"There's something I should tell you about Zoey."

Abbey sat up straight and spoke frankly with the older woman, opening up to her about Zoey's learning disorder and what it meant when it came to processing spatial information. She would see the lines, Abbey explained, but staying inside them took practice and diligence, two things that Zoey needed to work on.

It was a struggle for the young girl, Abbey went on to tell her. She was so good at some things that it only sharpened the blow when confronted by something she couldn't quite understand. She hadn't yet learned how to overcome that. Plagued by her impatient tendencies, she often quit out of frustration if she found that a skill didn't come naturally.

After she heard the details of Zoey's disability, Mrs. Wilburforce replied in a tone buzzing with shock, "Zoey? OUR Zoey? She's so articulate and clever. That girl has such wit, I just can't believe she has any trouble learning anything."

"It's the visual things. It doesn't affect her speech or her language. She has an excellent command of the language, actually, and a vast vocabulary. And to be frank, that's part of the problem. The verbal learning comes so quickly to her that she expects everything to be just as easy. She hasn't been able to accept that deciphering visual and spatial boundaries takes more effort for her than it does for her peers."

"Have you talked to her about it?"

"Not exactly. I've tried to work with her and so has Jed and so have her sisters. We're getting there, it's just that there are certain things she hasn't learned how to do yet and coloring within the lines is one of them. She always gives up before she masters it."

"It's something that takes practice."

"A lot of practice. It's not intuitive to her."

"Maybe if she knew why, it would help."

"I thought it might. Jed and I were supposed to talk to her about it. We've been meaning to, but..."

"You've been busy."

"No," Abbey said. "We've been distracted." She stood up then. "Do me a favor and go ahead and start dinner with Ellie and Lizzie. Zoey and I will join you in a little while."

She walked out of the kitchen and toward the stairs, a spring of determination and optimism in every step. The only way to get through to Zoey was to be honest with her, she thought. Ordinarily, she would have waited to talk to Jed before having this conversation with Zoey, but Jed was on the House floor for a vote that she knew could take hours. She couldn't wait that long. More importantly, neither could Zoey.

Standing outside the five-year-old's bedroom, Abbey listened to her older daughters trying to cheer her up. They teased her, tickled her, and bribed her with the promise of a game of hide and seek. All the things that usually brought Zoey out of a bad mood were irrelevant tonight. The little girl laid on her bed, quiet and sad.

"Come on, Zo," Elizabeth said.

"Yeah, if you're not gonna talk, at least tell us what's wrong," Ellie prodded. "Are you mad at us?"

"No," Zoey answered.

"Then what is it?"

"I don't wanna tell you!"

"But why not?"

Before Zoey could shoot back a response, Abbey interrupted. "When your father comes home, the three of you sprint into his arms. I can't even buy a hello?"

"Hi, Mom." Ellie rushed to give her a hug. "Zoey's upset and she won't tell us why."

"So I hear. Why don't you let me handle it? You two go downstairs and set the table for dinner, okay?"

As Liz and Ellie left the bedroom, Abbey closed the door behind them.

"I don't wanna talk about it," Zoey insisted, rolling over to her other side.

"I wasn't going to ask. I just came up here to tell you that I'm going to take Shadow out for a ride. Would you like to come along?"

"Now?"

"Yeah."

A nighttime ride? That wasn't something she got to do often. The idea brought Zoey out of her stupor almost instantly. She jumped off her bed and took Abbey's hand. Mother and daughter changed into jeans and sweaters, then headed down to the stables.

* * *

Shadow was a horse too large for Zoey to ride by herself. He was a black Morgan Horse that Jed and Abbey bought when the family moved from their home in Hanover to the farm in Manchester. He was friendly and eager, always trotting at a comfortable, steady pace and slowing down to a walk without any trouble.

Using a tandem saddle that attached to the regular saddle, Abbey and Zoey could ride together through the scenic trails at the farm, something they had done many times before. These outings were special for Zoey because she had her mother all to herself. For Abbey, it was a chance to spend quality time with her youngest daughter, sharing a hobby that belonged to both of them.

They usually talked while they rode. The chatterbox that she was, Zoey always had things to talk about, secrets to tell, or questions to ask. But on that dusky April evening, it was a silent ride around the bare timber at the edge of the forest. The sun had gone down and the nighttime critters were just starting to sing their tunes as the duo crested the hill at the top of their favorite trail.

Sitting directly behind her, Abbey noticed her daughter shivering. "Are you cold?"

"A little."

Abbey slipped out of her jacket and draped it around Zoey's shoulders. "Better?"

Zoey nodded. "Thanks. How long have we been riding?"

"About 20 minutes. Ready to head back home?"

Another nod. And it was then that Abbey realized just how upset Zoey was. Usually a ride could bring her out of a slump like magic. This time, it didn't even seem to register with her. Still, Abbey didn't push. She simply handled the reins to turn Shadow around and allowed Zoey the chance to broach the subject on her own, which she finally did as they crossed the field on the way back to the barn.

"Mommy?" Her voice was soft and innocent.

"Yeah?"

"I don't have anything to give you for Easter. Lizzie and Ellie do, but I don't."

"The only thing I want from you, my love, is a kiss and a hug. That's all I'll ever want."

"But I made you something."

"You did?"

"Uh huh. But that mean Wally Simpson made me mess it up. He's always picking on me!"

"What did he do?" Abbey asked, feigning ignorance so that Zoey could tell her what happened.

"We made eggs at school and he laughed at me and made me do it wrong!"

"Wrong how?"

"My teacher gave us those things with the letters..."

"Stencils?"

"Yeah." Ashamed to admit she had stumbled all on her own, Zoey fudged the truth. "And when I was painting, Wally made fun of me and then I painted out of the lines because he made me mess up. It's all his fault!"

Abbey kissed the back of her head before she prodded further. Zoey might have been embarrassed, but if they were going to talk about this, they were going to be honest. "Did you mess up because he laughed at you or had you already messed up before he laughed?"

"I DIDN'T!" Zoey boldly denied that accusation. "I didn't mess it up! It was HIS fault!"

"Okay, I was just asking."

"I didn't! I know how to color! I'm NOT dumb!"

"Of course you're not dumb. Who said you were dumb?" The question was met with silence. "Zoey, tell me. Who said you were dumb?"

"I felt dumb. When Wally laughed at me, it made me feel that way."

"Baby, you're not dumb." It broke Abbey's heart to hear her deny it so emphatically. Suddenly, the only thing that mattered was convincing Zoey that she was on her side. "That Wally Simpson, he's a mean old jerk, just like you said!"

"Why is he like that?"

"Because that's how some kids are. They go around and pick on other kids for no reason."

"It's not because I'm dumb, right?"

Abbey pulled on the reins to stop Shadow in his tracks. She then climbed off and helped Zoey down so they could continue their conversation face-to-face.

She kneeled down, looking Zoey in the eye and said, "No. You're not. Don't ever say that again. Don't even think it."

A single tear balanced on her big brown lashes, Zoey confessed, "But everyone else colored their eggs to take home to their parents. I was the only one who couldn't do it."

"I'm sure you weren't the only one. Come on, no one else screwed up?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. I put my head down. I didn't wanna do it anymore."

"Why?"

"Cause it wasn't fun."

"No, it probably wasn't. But you know that doing it again is the only way you're gonna learn how to do it for next time."

"I don't wanna learn. I don't wanna do it anymore."

"Sweetheart, I think it's time I talked to you about some grown-up stuff. Are you up for that?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, come on." Abbey stood up to lead Shadow back to the barn.

Zoey followed behind. "I like talking about grown-up stuff."

"Well, this might be a little hard to understand so I'm going to do my best to explain it and if I lose you, tell me, okay?"

"Okay."

"Remember that woman we took you to see a while ago? The psychologist who let you play all those games? You remember?"

"Yeah."

"You know what she was really doing?"

"You said she was giving me a test like they do in school."

"She was. I'm going to tell you why, Zoey. I'm going to tell you the whole story. Your dad and I have told you a little bit before, but I think you're old enough to know everything."

"I am," she said, curious. "I wanna know everything."

"Let's go into the barn. We have a lot to talk about."

TBC


	38. Chapter 38

Series: Snapshots of the Past

Series: Snapshots of the Past

Story: Man of the House

Chapter 38

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Previously: Abbey agreed to mentor Amanda, the third-year medical student who had previously accused her of impropriety; after a bad day at school, a sad Zoey joined her mother for a ride; Abbey decided to tell Zoey that she had been diagnosed with a learning disability

Summary: Abbey helps Zoey understand and view her disability in a positive light; Ellie unloads her drama at school; Jed struggles with his response to the president's radio address and with Abbey's help, gets back on course

* * *

"He looks tired." Back at the barn, Zoey used a body brush on Shadow's shiny black coat. She loved grooming the horses, especially right after a ride.

"Zoey, are you listening to what I'm telling you?" Abbey had just finished explaining that the child psychologist diagnosed Zoey with a disability that made it difficult for her to process visual information. The five-year-old didn't even flinch. She continued brushing Shadow's coat, unfazed.

"Uh huh."

"Okay, what did I say?"

"You said that I can do some things and I can't do other things."

Definitely a childlike summary. But then, Zoey was a child.

"What other things?"

Zoey shrugged. "Color and paint and draw."

"I never said you can't do those things. What did I say?"

"I dunno."

"Zoey, come on. This is important."

Abbey walked over to her young daughter. Taking the brush out of her hand, she led her to the corner of the barn and sat her down on a bale of hay. Her posture was defiant and her sweeping stare went from the wall to the floor and back to the wall again. Abbey waited a moment to give Zoey a chance to continue the conversation, but she didn't. Speechlessly withdrawn, Zoey sat motionless.

"Tell me what I said." Abbey sat down beside her.

"I don't know," Zoey repeated.

"Were you listening?"

"Yes."

"Then I want you to tell me so I can be sure that you understand."

"I SAID I DON'T KNOW!" she shouted, the eruption a result of frustration and the emotions that eroded her pride with every passing second.

Zoey wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand and when Abbey reached out her arm to hold her, she scooted closer to her mother. Abbey helped her onto her lap, unable to fault her for the confusion raging behind her eyes. The diagnosis was hard enough for adults to understand, let alone a little girl, even if she was as bright as Zoey.

"Hey, when was the last time I told you the story of when you were born? It's been a while, hasn't it?" Zoey nodded. "Do you remember what I said about why we named you Zoey?"

"You said it was because I was sick."

"That's right and we didn't know how long it would take you to get better. Your dad told me this great story, which I'll get into later, but it ended with 'Zoe aionios.' That's a Greek phrase. It means eternal life. That's why we named you Zoey...because we wanted you to know, right from the start, that we believed that you could overcome anything. We needed to believe that, we needed you to believe it too because it wasn't just that we didn't know how long it would take you to get better. Zoey, we didn't even know if you WOULD get better."

"What do you mean?"

"Sweetheart, you weren't just sick when you were born. You were extremely sick, so sick that they had to put you inside an incubator and hook you up to all these machines so you could breathe and eat."

"Why was I so sick?"

"You know how babies grow in their mommy's belly for nine months?"

"Yeah."

"Well, that's because it's the mommy's job to protect the baby, to give her food and water and help her develop in a safe environment before she's introduced to the world. But you didn't wait the full nine months. You came out early. Very early. And I couldn't protect you. I couldn't feed you. I couldn't do all the things for you that I did for Lizzie and Ellie when they were in my belly. Once you were born, you had to do it all on your own. But you were too weak. Your lungs weren't even developed yet. You couldn't even cry, let alone breathe. You were so small and so delicate that the doctors told us that you might never get better. And for the first three weeks of your life, only Daddy and I could visit you. That's how sick you were."

"Even Lizzie and Ellie couldn't see me?"

"No, they couldn't, not at first. But then, you started to get better. We finally brought Lizzie and Ellie to the hospital at Christmas, along with your grandparents. That's when they all got to meet you. Lizzie said you were the best Christmas present she ever got."

"Really? She said that?"

"Mmm hmm. She was so proud to have another baby sister. And it wasn't just her. You made Ellie's night. She tried to get you to smile, but you were much too young. Then you started crying, probably because you were scared of all the new people in the room and then Ellie started singing Hush Little Baby and you stopped. Ellie smiled at you and to this day, if you ask her, she'll say you smiled back at her. Your sisters fell in love with you the moment they laid eyes on you. Just like Daddy and I did." Abbey placed a loving kiss on Zoey's head. "That Christmas was when you finally started getting better. It was the first time I got to hold you in my arms. And when I did, I knew that I was holding my miracle baby. That's what you are, you know."

Zoey beamed at that. "I am?"

"You are. Doctors were afraid that we might lose you and you proved them all wrong. You're a fighter, Zoey. Day after day, you got stronger and bigger until eventually, they let us take you home. That's the kind of strength you have in your blood. That's what will always make you my miracle baby."

"Even now?"

"Especially now. Look at how you've grown up. You're a big girl with a huge brain. You have so many gifts."

"Like what?"

"Your speaking ability. You are so smart and so articulate. Don't tell your sisters, but you're the only one who's ever really stumped me on a riddle."

"I won't tell," Zoey giggled. "I thought I was dumb because I can't do stuff like color inside the lines."

"You thought wrong. The psychologist we took you to, she didn't say you couldn't color inside the lines. What she said is that it would take you longer to learn how to do those things than it would take some of your classmates. That's because they think something happened to your brain when you were sick in the hospital. They think you got to be so smart on the left side your brain that it caused it to be unbalanced."

"Huh?"

"See, the left side of a person's brain, that's the side that's responsible for the way you talk and the way you communicate with people. You're so good at that, sweetheart. In fact, you're almost TOO good at it. Now the right side of the brain is the side that does all the visual work for you, helps you look at numbers and letters and puzzle pieces and figure out what they mean and how they go together. That side of your brain was normal, just like every other kid. It didn't grow any more than it had to. Do you understand so far?"

"No." Zoey shook her head. "If it's normal like other kids, then how come I can't do puzzles?"

Puzzles were the worst for Zoey, especially because Ellie was so good at them.

"That's a good question. It's because the left side of your brain is so advanced that the right side - the normal side - has trouble keeping up with it. So when you see puzzle pieces and you want to put them together, it takes concentration, doesn't it? That's how it is for everyone. But in your case, while your right side is trying to focus, your left side is talking to you a mile a minute and won't let you figure out what to do."

"How can I make the left side stop messing me up?"

"It's going to take time. But I've done a lot of research and there isn't a book out there that says that you can't do the things your classmates can do. In fact, they all say the opposite. They say that you WILL be able to do these things if you practice. And it's not just going to be you. We're going to work on it together, all of us. We're going to practice things like coloring inside the lines and putting letters together and handwriting and doing puzzles and drawing and cutting and reading."

"I don't like reading. I like it better when you read to me."

"I know. I think that when you try to read by yourself, you don't really understand what it is you're reading. We're going to fix that."

"Will I be able to read like Ellie and Lizzie?"

"You're gonna be able to do everything Ellie and Lizzie can do, I promise."

"Then I'm really not dumb."

Her arms wrapped around Zoey's midsection, Abbey squeezed her tight. "No, you're not dumb. Far from it. Your problem, Zoey, is that you're smart, too smart for your own good."

Absorbing it in that way gave Zoey the boost of confidence she desperately needed. She had been struggling for months with her self-esteem. Seeing the other kids do the mechanical things she couldn't do upset her and instead of trying harder, she simply gave up when she was around them. It was only when Abbey forced her to face the obstacles in her path - like learning to tie her shoes - that she put in the effort. And when Abbey wasn't there, Zoey retreated inside herself, convincing herself that if she wasn't as bright as her peers, then the least she could do was hide it.

Now that she had an explanation for why she felt so behind and a reasonable plan to work her way around it, all of that changed. With a strong dose of Bartlet resiliency, Zoey's focus quickly shifted from resignation to ambition as the news started to sink in.

* * *

"Mrs. Wilburforce, you make the best peanut butter cookies!" Ellie reached across the kitchen table to the plate of cookies.

"Don't you dare!" Mrs. Wilburforce smacked her hand. "You've already had three."

"Mom won't care."

"I beg to differ. And even if she doesn't, I do. No more junk for you tonight."

Ellie grudgingly pulled back. "But you always let me."

"I don't let you."

"Well, you don't squeal on me. Same thing."

"That is not the same thing. If it is, I should right my wrong and tell your mom about all those times I looked the other way."

"Okay, okay, it's not the same thing."

In the short time she'd been the Bartlet's housekeeper, Mrs. Wilburforce had managed to blend in quite nicely with the family. On the mornings that Abbey had early rounds, she was there at the crack of dawn to help the girls get ready for school. She'd run the errands and do the grocery shopping while they were gone and at night, she'd cook a hearty meal for dinner and at Abbey's insistence, she'd usually join them, sitting at her own spot at the kitchen table right in the middle of Elizabeth and Ellie.

"Don't be too hard on her, Mrs. Wilburforce," Liz told her. "Ellie's just grumpy because she gave up chocolate for Lent and it's driving her crazy. Anything that's even remotely sweet, she's craving right about now."

"Believing that, my darling, would imply this isn't the way she always is."

Ellie furrowed her brows. "The way I always am? You act like there's something wrong with me."

"You, my dear, are a junk food junkie. We're going to have to fix that and get you on the road to recovery."

"I don't want to recover. I like that about myself. It's like my dark little secret."

Liz chuckled. "Yeah, Ellie the rebel."

Ellie shot her a narrow glare.

"What did you give up for Lent?" Mrs. Wilburforce asked Liz.

"Bubble gum."

"Except she sneaks a piece on the way to school every morning," Ellie informed the older woman.

"That's only because I want to make sure my breath smells good. And anyway, it's not bubble gum, it's regular gum so really, it doesn't count."

"Whatever." Ellie looked over at Mrs. Wilburforce. "Lizzie always tries to get around things. She's the queen of loopholes."

"I can't help it if I'm creative."

"At making excuses."

"Hey, Zoey's the master of excuses." Liz also glanced over at Mrs. Wilburforce. "Speaking of Zoey, did she tell you what was wrong with her today?"

"Yeah, did she say?"

Mrs. Wilburforce turned a deaf ear to their question. She knew that Zoey was too embarrassed to tell her sisters what happened at school and she had to respect that. That was the kind of relationship she wanted with the Bartlet girls. As their housekeeper, the person who was there when Jed and Abbey couldn't be, she also wanted to be their friend. She wanted them to trust her, knowing that unless they were in some sort of trouble, she wouldn't betray their confidence, at least not to anyone but their parents.

"You two need to finish packing for tomorrow," she said, reminding them they were catching a 7 a.m. flight to Washington, D.C. to start spring break with Jed.

"We're having a conversation," Liz argued.

"Conversation's over." Mrs. Wilburforce pushed her chair out, rose to her feet, and gestured to the two girls. "Come on, time to pack. Your mom wants you ready to leave before you go to bed tonight so you won't be running around like a chicken with its head cut off in the morning."

"Why do we have to leave so early anyway?" That was typical Ellie, the late sleeper in the family.

"Because that's how your parents planned it and they run the house, not you. So go on, get your things together. I'll be up to help shortly."

The sisters grumbled on their way out of the kitchen as Mrs. Wilburforce began clearing the table, setting aside two plates for Abbey and Zoey and wrapping the rest of the leftovers with foil.

* * *

After dining with Zoey later that evening, Abbey read her a story and tucked her in, then walked down the hall to help Liz fold and pack a few spring sweaters, sat down for a cup of tea with Mrs. Wilburforce back in the kitchen, and finally, dragging Ellie out of her room, she retreated upstairs to her bedroom for the night.

"It's been a whole two days since I've heard the latest happenings in the life and times of Eleanor Bartlet," she said. "Tell me about all the drama of the fifth grade."

"What makes you so sure there's drama?"

"It's fifth grade and you're a girl. There's always drama!"

Ellie couldn't argue with that. She plopped down on her parents' bed and began her sordid tale, "Well, you know how Brittney started that stuck-up Snob Club? She's now trying to get MY friends to join."

"Why?"

"She's sore about our pop quiz in Social Studies on Wednesday. She tried to cheat off me."

"What did you do?" Abbey asked. She knew her daughter wasn't a cheater, but she also knew that Ellie avoided confrontation at all cost and turning in a classmate wasn't her style.

"I wrote down a bunch of wrong answers and when Brittney got up to turn her paper in, I changed them to the right answers."

"And Brittney found out?"

"That's why she's mad at me. Now she's trying to make friends with my friends just to annoy me. She handed out invitations to all the girls in the class for a slumber party at her house over spring break and when she got to my name, she said, 'Oh, I guess you can't make it since you'll be out of town' and then she flipped her hair, like this." Ellie smacked at her hair the way Brittney had done, with an obnoxious snap of her head that landed her nose squarely in the air. "And then she said they'll just have to have fun without me, but she said it real snobby like they're going to spend the whole night talking about me or something."

"So what's the worst they can say?"

"It's not even about what they'll say! It's Brittney's attitude I don't like!"

Abbey agreed. "I don't blame you there. That girl sounds like a real gem."

"Don't get me started!" Ellie humphed her displeasure and let out a small scream. "AND she's also blaming me for starting rumors about her! Wendy says that Madison told Eve that I said that Brittney was making goo-goo eyes at Tommy, which I never said! So then Eve told Audrey that I denied saying it and Audrey told Brittney who said I was lying..."

When Abbey asked the simple question about the drama in the fifth grade, she had no idea Ellie had so much pent-up frustration. She sat back and listened, just as she had years earlier when Liz was going through the trials and tribulations of the tenuous friendships of elementary school and just as she would soon with Zoey. It was harmless enough. With 10-year-old girls, loyalties shifted overnight and more often than not, they shifted back the next week. The role she chose as a mother was to allow her daughter to vent her anger when they were sworn enemies and support her when they were back to being best friends.

* * *

From dealing with Amanda at the hospital to coming home to face Zoey's insecurities to lending her ear to Ellie's social problems at school, it had been an emotionally exhausting day for Abbey and she was thrilled to see it winding down to an end.

She checked on the girls to reassure herself they were soundly sleeping, then went back to her room to call Jed. He'd told her he'd be working late that night. A scheduled vote that he expected would take hours would dominate his afternoon and editing his response to the president's radio address was going to "suck the life out of his evening," he'd said.

That's where she assumed she'd find him when she picked up the phone - in his congressional suite, slaving away on his first national political speech. To her surprise, she didn't even have to dial because as she touched the receiver to her ear, she heard that familiar sound that always warmed her heart - his voice.

"Hey beautiful."

"From 500 hundred miles away, you can still read my mind," she answered.

"Does that surprise you?" Jed replied.

"Are you still at the office?"

"This damn speech is taking me forever!"

"That's not like you." Having already changed into a pair of pajamas, Abbey slipped under the covers.

"What?"

"To spend so long on one speech."

"I've never given a speech to a national audience before."

"How quickly you forget Stockholm."

"You know what I mean."

"Just open your mouth and talk from the heart, Jed. You're an economist. Delivering a response on the economy will be intuitive. Let it come from your heart."

"It's not that simple. This is a big deal, Abbey. For the Speaker, himself, to ask me to do this - a freshman congressman with zero clout - it's just not that simple."

"Why?"

"Because it can't be empty rhetoric. I have to be inspirational and factual at the same time. I want people walking away learning something they didn't know before, I want them moved to take action. That's the only way to pass the minimum wage bill."

"You're working on a speech this important at the 11th hour?"

"I have about a billion drafts here that have all been approved by the majority leader's office. I'm just not happy with them."

"Ah, so you're rewriting."

"Yeah."

"Where are you stuck?"

"The beginning," he sneered.

"Well then, let's get to work."

"Forget it. It could take all night."

"So? I was wondering when I'd have time to do all the things I need to do before tomorrow." She got up to retrieve a suitcase from the closet. "So where do we start?"

"Before we start, what's going on? You sound...exasperated."

"Long day."

"Tell me about it."

"Ellie's having a problem with that girl, Brittney, at school," she began. "Same old, same old. I took care of it. No need to burden you with the details." She stopped herself then and remembered that it was important to Jed to be a part of everything that happened at home. "Actually, I'm wrong. I'd like to get your opinion."

"I'm all ears."

"It started with the pop quiz in Social Studies on Wednesday. Brittney tried to cheat off Ellie so Ellie wrote down the wrong answers and waited until Brittney handed in her paper to change them to the right answers."

Jed smiled, proud of Ellie's quick thinking. "That's my girl!"

"Yeah, well, as payback for that trick, Ellie's convinced Brittney wants to turn all her friends against her."

"That's nonsense. Brittney's just trying to bully her." He had also learned a thing or two about the interaction between pre-teen girls over the years. Back when Liz was in fifth grade, Abbey was in residency and it was usually up to Jed to deal with classroom squabbles and comfort her until her mother came home.

"I thought so too," Abbey said.

"But you can't tell Ellie that. If you do, she'll say you don't understand. You need to tell her as bad as it is now, it'll blow over after spring break." It was his turn to stop now. "Sorry, old habits die hard. You said you already took care of it?"

"I did."

"What did you say?"

"That it'll blow over after spring break," she replied, amused.

"What brilliant advice." He gave a soft laugh.

"And now that I know you agree, I feel a lot better about it."

"So that little bump in your day can't be all you have to tell me. What else is on your mind?"

"Zoey. She had a rough day at school."

"What happened?"

"The kids were painting their Easter eggs and the coordination thing just didn't work out for her. She was really upset, Jed. I had to tell her."

"Tell her what?"

"Jed."

"I thought we decided we wouldn't ambush her with all the details about that until she was old enough to understand."

"I didn't exactly ambush her. I took her for a ride and broke it to her gently, in a way that I think she understood. She needed to know, honey. I would have discussed it with you first, but you weren't available and I didn't feel it could wait." She worried about the silence on the line. "Say something."

"How did she react?"

"A lot better than I expected."

"I wish I had been there."

"I wish you had been too. If I thought it could have waited until tomorrow, I would have. She was so upset, I had to do something. You understand, don't you?"

"Yeah. I trust your judgment. You're the one who's there with them; you have to do what you think is right," he said with enough conviction to convince her that despite his objections in the past, he'd support her when it came to decisions she made about the girls when he wasn't around. He just wanted her to keep him in the loop afterwards.

"Thank you."

"I'll talk to Zoey about it when you guys get here. Maybe take her for a walk through Rock Creek Park?"

"She'll like that."

"Yeah, I think she will."

Abbey smiled. "Ready to get to work on your radio address?"

"I am."

"What have you got?" She picked up a notepad from the nightstand and jotted down her thoughts as Jed read his speech.

"Good morning, I'm Congressman Josiah Bartlet from the great state of New Hampshire. You just heard President Reagan speak about the economic outlook for America. As an economist, I'm here to give you the other side, to tell you what you can expect and what we can all do on a path towards a booming economy."

"Wait!"

"What?"

"How do you know what Reagan's going to say?"

"We have an advance copy of his address."

"Okay, go on."

"Last year, a record number of homeless shelters opened up in cities across America. I applaud my fellow lawmakers - both Democrats and Republicans - for funding that national project and now I urge them to broaden their scope of action. It's true that many of our citizens who live in these shelters and on the streets of our cities are employed workers, earning less than a liveable wage. And that's a problem that hasn't yet made a strong enough impact in the chambers of congress to inspire change."

Jed deliberately took a breath to give Abbey a chance to jump in, which she did.

"It's not strong enough."

"No?"

"No. I feel like I'm listening to a boring old Economics professor."

Jed clutched his chest. "I'm wounded by your words!"

"Better me than your critics, right?"

"All right, tell me it stinks."

"It doesn't stink. It just needs some oomph."

"You realize this is just the first paragraph, right?"

"If you want to knock their socks off, you have to do it from the beginning. You need to introduce them to the concept of a liveable wage by telling them how an economy can crumble when the working class is making below the poverty line. Aren't you the one who told me that?"

"I have to temper the widespread doom and gloom. It's not a message people want to hear."

"Since when are you about what people want to hear instead of what they should hear? I know how important this is to you. Make it important to them."

"The minimum wage?"

"And the working class in general. They're the backbone of our economy."

"So that's what I call them - the backbone of our economy. And the concept of a liveable wage is at the crux of the batch of principles that make the American dream a possibility..."

"For everyone."

"And the meat and potatoes of the opportunities we try to give every American, opportunities that shouldn't be randomly stripped in legislative caucuses by career politicians morally grounded to the ideas of the week, whatever will get them re-elected, instead of the constituents they were sent to represent."

"Maybe not quite so strong?"

"You just told me it wasn't strong enough."

"It wasn't strong enough to get people fired up. You don't want to get too strong to the point of alienating your own side."

"Okay, so we leave out the corrupt politicians thing."

"You didn't mention corrupt politicians in so many words."

"I was about to," he grinned.

"It'd be good to leave that out." She grinned too.

"And in the next paragraph, I talk about the benefits of a living wage, not just for employees, but for the economy at-large..."

"And, in-turn, how that will help small businesses prosper in the long run."

"How it'll help everyone. What we put in is what we take out."

"An investment in our working class. Imagine that."

"Okay." He was sold. "Let's give it a whirl and see how it sounds."

So on the eve of the speech that would introduce him to the nation as an up-and-comer in the Democratic Party, Jed sat at his desk, glasses perched on his nose and a phone to his ear, and scribbled on page after page of a yellow legal pad while Abbey helped him work through his ideas and construct a response that would earn him the favor of the left, the respect of the right, and the attention of everyone in between.

TBC


	39. Chapter 39

Series: Snapshots of the Past

Series: Snapshots of the Past

Story: Man of the House

Chapter 39

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Previously: Abbey tried to help Zoey view her learning disability in a positive light; Jed struggled with rewriting his radio address with Abbey's help over the phone; Liz comforted Abbey after her miscarriage (Chapter 19)

Summary: Abbey and the girls leave for DC to start spring break as a family; Liz finds out her parents are considering adopting another child; after some back and forth with his new communications director, Jed finally tapes his speech in response to the president's radio address; the Bartlets enjoy a picnic at the National Mall

Author's Note: Thanks for all the feedback and support with this story, guys. It means more than I can say!

* * *

On a misty April morning in 1985, Jed awoke to the sounds of D.C. traffic outside. The beeping horns of gridlocked cars, that forced him out of his nice warm bed at dawn, worked better than an alarm clock. As much as he wanted to, he couldn't fight it. With a packed schedule before Abbey and the girls arrived, he had no time to lose, so he rose from his slumber, threw his bathrobe over his shoulder, and sleepily padded his way to the bathroom.

Five hundred miles away, In New Hampshire, Abbey had won the early morning battle with Liz and managed to drag her out of bed, but her attempts with Ellie were hopeless. The ten-year-old buried her golden curls under the covers and groaned something inaudible until Abbey granted her a few more minutes of sleep while she helped Zoey pack the last of her things.

Meanwhile, with his hair damp and tangled from his shower, Jed headed to the kitchen in search of breakfast. It resembled a bachelor pad, the Bartlet apartment on Porter Street. When Jed was alone in Washington, clothes were scattered all over the sofa and chairs, a collection of dirty dishes were stacked in the sink, and an empty fridge was coated with take-out menus dangling off generic magnets because it wasn't worth the effort, he felt, to spend the time cooking for one when he usually returned from the office as late as eight or nine in the evening.

It was nothing like home. At home, things were organized. Cleaner. Clothes went where they belonged, homecooked dinners were the norm, the dishes were washed after meals, and the only things dangling off the fridge were pictures and finger-paintings alongside the shopping list and a calendar with the girls' cheerleading and volleyball practices, soccer and softball games, Girl Scout meetings, and riding lessons highlighted. And every now and then, a love note from Abbey, left behind on the mornings she had to leave for work before he woke up.

Oh how he cherished those notes. He often said that one lipstick-stained note from her was all he needed to make it through any challenge he faced in his day. He never realized just how true that was until he got to Washington without them. He had to remind himself of the reasons he ran for office, of the need for his presence in congress if he hoped to shape his district and have a voice in legislation that would affect the lives of his constituents. That was why he was here and he had no regrets on that front. That's what kept his spirits up.

Back at the farm, Abbey zipped up Zoey's Jem and the Holograms rolling backpack and carried it out into the hall, an act that didn't go over quite as well as she hoped. This was Zoey's first trip with her very own luggage so her mother taking it downstairs was out of the question. The young girl insisted she'd carry her own bag when she was ready to go and no matter how much Abbey tried to reason with her, it was clear the decision had been made and Zoey wasn't about to reconsider.

As Abbey and Zoey continued to negotiate the backpack situation in Manchester, Jed finished washing the last of the glasses he had left in the sink in the apartment in DC. The night before, he had cleaned and dusted the place, stocked the fridge full of fruits, veggies, meat, and dairy, stocked the freezer with ice cream for Lizzie and the pantry with double-stuffed Oreos for Ellie and grape and cherry lollipops for Zoey. Even though they'd spend only two days in the city before heading south to Virginia to soak up the historic charm of Williamsburg, he wanted everything to be perfect.

It was shortly after 5:30 that morning that he scoured the fridge, passing up traditional breakfast food in favor of a chocolate cupcake and a glass of milk. With a determined stride in his step, he sat down at the table, phone in hand, to eat. If Abbey was going to lecture him about his junk food for the next 10 days, then he at least deserved one last splurge, he thought as he began to dial.

In the meantime, Abbey, who had lost her argument with Zoey, had returned downstairs and rushed to answer the phone on the first ring. "You're late."

"What?"

"You said you'd call at 5:30. It's now 5:33."

Jed replied to her tease with a little one of his own. "Sorry, it took me three minutes more than I planned to wake Rita and get her out of here."

"What did I tell you about your trampy girlfriends?"

"To take them to cheap motels instead of the apartment?"

"Damn right."

Jed chuckled. They both enjoyed a little banter that raised the others blood pressure first thing in the morning, especially since they knew how harmless it all was.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Making breakfast sandwiches for the girls to eat on the way to the airport."

"Are they up?"

"All but Ellie."

"Of course."

Abbey wiped her hand on a dishtowel. "How'd you sleep?"

"Can't complain." Jed smiled when he heard his youngest daughter's voice in the background.

"Mommy, you forgot..." Zoey began with her kitten in one arm and a pin-up horse and pony calendar in the other. She walked faster when she saw her mother on the phone. "Is that Daddy?"

"Zoey, you were supposed to be getting ready!"

"You forgot to mark last night on the calendar."

"Go ahead and mark it off."

"But YOU always do it!"

Abbey grabbed a marker from the drawer to draw an "X" where Zoey told her. "There you go. How many more days until Easter?"

Zoey counted the boxes aloud. "Eight?"

"That's right. And only three more days until Busch Gardens."

"YAY!"

"But only if you go get ready so we can go to the airport."

"I wanna talk to Daddy first!"

"Put Ginger down, say a quick hello, and then get upstairs and change."

Abbey passed off the phone to the pajama-clad preschooler and continued wrapping a trio of egg and cheese sandwiches in foil, lost in her own thoughts until the crashing echo upstairs led her out of the kitchen. She planted herself at the foot of the stairs and looked up to see Lizzie tossing her overstuffed suitcase down the steps.

Liz shrugged when she saw her. "It was heavy."

Thank goodness Jed wasn't around, Abbey thought. If he had been, he might have reminded her - and their daughter - that back in college, Abbey frequently hurled her bags downstairs when they were packed to capacity, and that little gem would have undermined the pearl of wisdom she was about to throw Liz's way.

"Next time, pack less," she said on her way up while Liz breezed past her towards the bottom landing.

"Ellie's still asleep," the teen informed her.

"Not for long," Abbey replied as she reached the top and made the turn to Ellie's bedroom. "Ellie?"

"I'm up!" Ellie groggily answered at her mother's knock.

Abbey opened the door. "I want you really up, as in out of bed."

"I'm stretching."

"Enough with the stretches."

"Mooooommmm," she whined.

Sitting on the edge of the mattress, Abbey uncovered her small frame. "Come on, right now."

"Why are you so mean to me?"

"You want to see mean? Because I can do mean."

"Mmmmoooooommmm!"

"You already said that. There's no time to go four rounds this morning. We're going to miss our flight."

"Why can't we drive?"

"Because you girls would make me crazy on a nine-hour drive!"

"I'll be good."

"Eleanor..."

"Just five more minutes?"

"If you spend five more minutes in bed, I'm going to call your grandmother and tell her to sit with you for the week while your sisters and I go to Washington."

"You're blackmailing me."

Abbey tweaked her nose. "Only because I love you, sugar plum. Don't make me leave you behind."

"I don't think you do love me."

"If you don't get up..."

Ellie sighed. "Why can't we take a later flight?"

Fortunately for Ellie, Abbey's impatience faded into worry when she heard the frightening scream downstairs. Recognizing the voice as Elizabeth's, she bolted towards the door, swinging it open and charging out of the room.

"LIZZIE?"

Zoey nearly ran her over, jogging up the stairs after her kitten as Abbey sprinted down. "GINGER, STOP IT! GET BACK HERE!"

The wayward cat ignored her mistress and with a dead mouse in her jaws, she raced towards Ellie's room in hopes of winning favor with the blond since she had killed the rodent that disgusted and terrified her a few weeks earlier. As Ginger neared Ellie's bed, where she hoped to deposit the bloodied corpse, Ellie jumped out of her tangled sheets with a blood-curdling scream that rang throughout the house.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"GINGER, LEAVE ELLIE ALONE!" Zoey demanded.

"Get it out of my room! GET IT OUT!" Ellie shouted from the corner. "MOM!"

Liz rushed back in with Abbey on her heels. "So that's how you get Ellie out of bed."

* * *

"Has anyone called the Congressman to wake him up?" On the fourth floor of the Rayburn House Office Building, Michael, Jed's chief of staff, paced the lobby of the congressional office suite, holding a copy of the revised version of the radio response Jed had left on Friday night.

"You think Abbey hasn't already called him three times this morning?" That was Samantha Lloyd, Jed's communications director. A few weeks into her job and she already knew the Bartlet marriage better than her male counterparts.

"I think that if she hasn't, you're going to have to explain to the Majority Leader why the Congressman is still in bed."

"I'll gladly shoulder that burden. Trust me, Abbey Bartlet wouldn't let her husband sleep his morning away on a day as important as this."

Announcing his presence by clearing his throat, Jed said from the doorway, "And I suppose there's no chance that I woke myself up this morning, the adult that I am?"

"Good morning," Michael replied.

Jed gestured a greeting, then addressed Samantha. "Just so you know, I was the one who called my wife at dawn and not that it's any of your business, but so far, we've spoken once, not three times."

"Is she on the plane yet?" Sami questioned, approaching him with a leather padfolio.

"No."

"Then there's still time."

"You taking bets?"

"I only take bets when there's a chance I'm wrong."

"Something about that doesn't sound right to me."

"It's the part about me being wrong. I never am."

"That confidence of yours is grating."

"So you've said, Congressman."

"Hasn't made an impression, has it?"

"I consider the source."

Jed shrugged off that flippant response as he walked into his office. Something he'd only admit to himself is that he enjoyed Sami's candor. He liked that she didn't fall all over herself to appease him or that she didn't apologize for disagreeing with him. He couldn't share that with her though. Still feeling burned by the fallout from what happened with Christine, he was reluctant to trust her.

Samantha didn't push him. She'd been warned by Michael about the rumblings surrounding Christine's departure. She wanted no part of that. Her job was to serve the people of New Hampshire - and, by extension, her country - by representing and advising Congressman Bartlet, a man she had quickly come to respect and admire. She didn't have time to play games or allow herself to be wrapped up in office gossip and she definitely had no interest in following in her predecessor's footsteps by letting something like a fleeting crush on a man so clearly in love with his wife to cloud her better judgment.

She gave Jed his space. She held her ground, but didn't complain when he turned to other staffers for things she felt were better suited to her expertise. She wanted him to have an opportunity to realize her loyalty on his own. If he didn't, she thought, he'd never truly trust her and without his trust, she couldn't properly advise him anyway.

Her suit jacket over her arm, she stood in Jed's doorway. "Ready?"

"For what?"

"Meeting with the Majority Leader."

"Now?"

"Yes, now. It's on the schedule."

"I haven't had time to check the schedule."

"We need to do a run-through of your radio response before the taping."

"The taping isn't live. Why do we have to do a run-through?"

"Because it's important, Congressman. We need you to read the speech in front of the Majority Leader."

"In case he has reservations?"

"Or in case you do."

"I already know what it says."

"I changed it."

"What?" Jed asked, dumbfounded by her admission. "Why would you change my speech? I stayed up half the night writing that thing. Why would you..."

"It's my job."

"To change my speech? Without my knowledge? Who gave you that kind of authority?"

"I gave it to myself. You're a brilliant man, but you're not a political strategist. If a speech needs to be changed, it's my call to make."

"This is an on-air radio response to President Reagan. I will speaking for the entire Democratic Party."

"Which is why we need to do a run-through with the Majority Leader. Look, Lindsay, Michael, and I spent weeks putting together a response that would accurately spotlight your thoughts on minimum wage. You came in last night and rewrote it. Did you really think I wasn't going to look it over?"

"Looking it over and changing it are two different things."

"I tweaked it. Don't make more out of it than it is."

"The essence is still mine?"

"It's possible I might have done a little more tweaking than you would have liked. But every word in that speech has a greater purpose and once you read it, I think you'll agree."

"What if I hate it?"

"Stomp your feet and cry. So long as you read it on-air, I really don't care."

"It's your warmth that led me to hire you."

"Let's get to work." She led the way into the lobby.

"So what happens if the president decides to trash his speech on the economy at the last minute and instead does his radio address on the significance of the White House Easter egg roll?"

"He won't."

"How do you know?"

"Because his radio address will be about the economy. It's an important one."

"Okay, so he rattles off a speech about funding the Easter egg roll. How better to screw me over than to come out as Mr. Fuzzy before I deliver a message on our stagnant economy?"

"Congressman..."

"I'm agreeing to the run-through. What do you want from me?"

"A little good cheer wouldn't be out of line."

"Okay, while I brighten your day with the gift of cheer, will you do me a favor?"

"What's that?"

"Keep reminding me this is important just in case my departure from common sense affects my reasoning ability in the next hour or so."

"Are you going to be this much fun all day?"

"Only if you're lucky."

Maggie, the receptionist, held the phone receiver and called out to Jed as he and Samantha headed for the hallway outside the suite. "Congressman, it's Mrs. Bartlet. She's calling from the airport."

"Shut up," Jed warned in response to Samantha's cheeky smile before he walked back in to take the phone. "Hi, hon. Is the plane on time?"

* * *

Somewhere high over the Atlantic Ocean, Liz glanced over at her sleeping sisters. Zoey was wrapped in her blue fleece blanket and curled up against the window while Ellie was resting soundly on her white and pink "princess pillow" in the middle seat. Without disturbing them, Liz stood up and crossed the aisle to sit in the empty seat beside Abbey.

"Are we almost there?"

Abbey checked her watch. "About an hour left."

"I hate flying." Take-off and landing always bothered Liz.

"You want some gingerale?"

"No."

"You know, I remember when you were three years old and we flew back from London. You loved that flight so much that when we walked out of the terminal, you wanted to get back on the plane. What happened to my brave little girl?"

"She grew up and flew to Sweden. I didn't mind planes until that terrible flight back home."

None of the Bartlets would soon forget the choppy ride through a rough winter storm on their way back from Stockholm. It was the worst for Lizzie. She got so sick that they had to spend an extra hour at Logan Airport in Boston to ease her queasy stomach before driving back to New Hampshire. Every time she set foot on a plane from then on, she armed herself with a dose of Dramamine, even for short trips, like the two hours it took to get from Manchester to Washington.

"No storms today," Abbey told her. "It should be smooth."

"I'm gonna hold to you that."

"And if I'm wrong?"

"I'll drive to Washington next time."

"I don't want to have that fight again."

Liz changed her tone then. More serious now, she said, "Mom?"

"Yeah?"

"I checked the mail before we left." She pulled a postcard from her purse. "This came for you."

Abbey examined it, a look of concern crossing her features when she realized it was confirmation that the adoption agency had received her and Jed's application. "Oh."

"Adoption?"

"This isn't how I wanted you to find out."

"I figured. But now that I did..."

"Now that you did, what do you think?"

"About you and Dad adopting a baby?"

"We haven't decided yet. We've talked about it. That shouldn't come as a shock to you. You knew I wanted another baby after the miscarriage."

"I didn't realize you were ready for one this soon."

"You don't think it's a good idea?"

Liz shrugged. "I don't know."

"Two months ago, you said your dad and I should have as many kids as we want. Remember?"

"I remember. I said you love being a mom and you deserve to have more children. I still think that."

"Then what's the doubt about?"

"It's a timing issue. We're not living an ideal life right now. I mean with Dad in Washington and all, things haven't been perfect. You're running yourself ragged between the hospital and taking care of us. If it wasn't for Mrs. Wilburforce, you'd never even sleep. And as far as I know, there's still no decision on reelection. If he runs again, how are you going to handle another kid? Things are hard enough as it is with me and Ellie and Zoey." She backed off when Abbey looked away. "You asked what I think."

"And I'm glad you're being honest," Abbey acknowledged, turning her head to face her daughter once again. "We're still talking about reelection and about adoption. Nothing is set in stone on either one of those issues."

"Don't they go hand-in-hand?"

"I don't think it has to be either-or. You do?"

"I admire what Dad's doing in Washington. It takes a lot of courage to uproot your life and go to congress, knowing you'll be living away from your family for the half the year and you'll be battling people you disagree with day in and day out."

"But?"

"But it's not the best situation for raising children, is it?"

"We're not blazing new ground here, Lizzie. A lot of representatives and senators do exactly what we're doing."

"Yeah, but they're not us. A baby is going to miss out on knowing Dad...really knowing him, like Zoey, Ellie, and I do." Liz softened her voice and said, "I'm not even a kid anymore and I miss him. I really miss him, Mom."

"I know you do, sweetheart." Abbey wrapped an arm around her, bringing her in close enough for Liz to lay her head on her shoulder. "I'm sorry he can't be with us full-time."

"I understand how important it is for him to do what he's doing, I do. It's just..."

"You wish he could be there and here at the same time."

"Yeah."

"Ever since he took the oath, he's been in Washington. It must seem like forever to you girls. But don't forget that summer recess is coming up. He'll be home all of July and August and then he'll be back at the end of October through Christmas and New Year's. You'll be so sick of him by next January, you won't even notice when he goes back to DC."

Liz gave a weak laugh, but Abbey knew it was forced. The separation between them and Jed was hard on everyone, especially on Lizzie. She loved her mother with everything inside her, but her entire life, she had a connection with her father that she had with no one else, a special bond that only she and Jed fully understood.

If it wasn't for the fact that Jed would be home in New Hampshire half the year and that that would disrupt Lizzie's schooling, Abbey would have allowed her the choice of moving to Washington, not as an ultimatum like the one she issued during the campaign when she and Liz weren't getting along, but as a genuine option that Liz could choose without any guilt or resentment from her. She would have done that because more important to her than her own feelings was her daughter's happiness.

"Will Ellie, Zoey, and I be part of the discussion about reelection?"

"You really think we'd make that decision without you?"

"I guess not."

"You'll be part of it all, Lizzie. This is your life too and you have every right to have a say in what happens next." Abbey twirled a strand of chestnut hair around her finger. "I love you, angel."

"I love you too."

* * *

"The whole thing would have taken 10 minutes if Greg, the sound guy, knew what the hell he was doing!" The run-through was over and Jed had just finished taping his response to the president's radio address. He sauntered through the halls of the Capitol towards the exit.

"There were some mishaps, sir," Samantha agreed, hustling down the corridor with him.

"Mishaps I can handle. That guy had no idea how to work the board."

"He'd never done it before."

"Well, then, by all means, let his first time be on the day of my radio response. Tell me there's no vast right-wing conspiracy!" Having reached the crosswalk outside, Jed stopped until he saw a break in the traffic.

"To silence you? No, there's no vast right-wing conspiracy to silence you."

"How about to make me a laughingstock?"

"That's entirely possible."

"Have I mentioned how much I love politics?"

"Not today, sir, no." Samantha flipped through the itinerary as they reached the Rayburn Building and headed towards the elevator. "You're done for the day. All you have left before vacation is a photo-op tomorrow morning."

"No way. I'll be spending tomorrow with my family. Cancel the photo op." Jed pressed the call button.

"It's with the Cow Alliance."

"What the hell's the Cow Alliance?"

"C-O-W. Cattle Owners of Wisconsin."

"What the hell do they want with me?"

The duo stepped into the elevator.

"Actually, nothing. They're here to meet with the Wisconsin delegation and we snagged them for a photo-op. Or, more accurately, we snagged their cow."

"The real thing or are we talking acronyms again?"

"The real thing."

"They brought a cow on a plane?"

"They drove." Sami followed Jed out of the elevator.

"With a cow on a hitch?"

"What do you care?"

"I don't." Jed crossed the threshold into the lobby of his suite. "Hey, Maria."

"Maggie," Samantha corrected him.

"That's what I meant."

"Congressman?"

Jed spun around to face her. "You want me to take a picture with a cow?"

"Yes."

"And not even a New Hampshire cow. You want me photographed with a Wisconsin cow."

"Yes."

"This is what being a legislator boils down to? Photo ops with cows?"

"Well, you wouldn't have to except you have a likeability issue with the dairy farmers and I need this photo for the press release I'm sending out Monday on the farming bill you're supporting."

"I don't remember agreeing to support a farming bill."

"It's on your desk. It's a big enough gesture to pacify the New England dairy farmers and minor enough that it's no big deal politically. You'll read it, you'll support it, and I'll announce it on Monday."

"You really like calling the shots, don't you?"

"It's how I get things done. Now as for the photo, your suit might get a little soiled..."

"Oh for crying out loud, if I have to tell my wife that I'm ditching her and the girls on Palm Sunday so I can suck up to a cow, she'll have my you know what in a sling."

"One picture and you're done, I promise. Bring an extra suit to change into and give me 10 minutes before church."

Maggie jumped on an opportunity to interject. "Congressman, you have a visitor in your office."

"No meetings," Samantha said. "He's done for the day. If anyone needs anything, they can deal with me."

Maggie shook her head. "I think this is something the Congressman has to handle on his own. She said it was important."

Jed sighed. "Name me one thing in this building that's not important."

Grumbling all the way to his office, Jed barged in to find Abbey sitting comfortably in his leather swivel chair with her high-heeled boots propped up on his desk. She wore black tights, a black skirt, a maroon sweater, and a light leather jacket. Her sexy auburn tresses tumbled softly around her face.

"It's about time." She cocked her brow and gave him a flirtatious tilt of her head.

"You look like a scandal just waiting to happen!" He tossed his briefcase aside. "Get over here, Dr. B!"

Abbey floated into his arms. "Too bad there's no lock on the door."

"I'll have that fixed first thing."

His hands roamed her body, molding to every inch of her buxom figure. It was an hour glass, perfectly proportioned from her head to her feet. She pushed herself into him, relishing the feel of his big, masculine hands holding her so tightly, as if he was going to squeeze the life out of her if she let him. But it wasn't painful. It was heaven. No matter what, all was right with the world when Abbey was in Jed's arms.

"I missed you so much."

"Not half as much as I missed you." He leaned her against the desk until she was sitting on top of it. "I could take you right here and now."

"Easy, Romeo. We have to keep it above the waist." Her verbal protest didn't stop her wandering eye from falling to his pants and the belt that would be so easily undone.

"No, we really don't."

"We're in a government building and there are people right outside the door."

"This is what fantasies are made of!"

"Jed, your staff!"

"I'll fire them if they come in."

"The walls are thin. They'll hear us."

"If they're offended by the sound of me kissing my wife, maybe they should staff another congressman."

"It's not the kissing. It's the panting, and the moaning, and the screaming they're likely to hear."

"Promise me you'll scream!"

Abbey screaming in pleasure during intercourse always did amazing things to Jed.

"Jed..." She laughed when he nibbled on her ear. Between kisses, she murmured more seriously, "Jed?"

"Hmm?"

"Won't the New England farmers be offended that you used a Wisconsin cow for your photo op?"

* * *

"I wanna ride the carousel!" Her arms stretched wide out to her side, Zoey spun herself around over and over again.

"Not until Mom gets back," Ellie told her, staring up at her kite flying high in the breeze.

"But I wanna ride it now!"

It was a gorgeous spring day in Washington, the kind that lured people out of their homes and sent them flocking to the grand monuments, memorials, and museums of the National Mall. It was cheery blossom season and with the festival in full-swing, scores of tourists roamed the grounds with cameras, children ran around over the grassy knolls, and picnickers scattered on colored blankets that dotted the field from the steps of the Capitol to the flags that circled the Washington Monument.

Jed and Abbey spotted their daughters from a distance as they strolled along the sidewalk. They saw Zoey spinning herself around into a state of dizziness and Ellie tugging on the string of her kite to keep it out of the trees. They saw Elizabeth, her eyes hidden behind a pair of shades, lying down on a powder blue blanket next to a picnic basket Abbey had packed for lunch. When she heard Zoey complaining, she sat up and pulled a pair of ribbons out of her purse to distract her baby sister while they waited for their parents.

"Hey, Zo, come here, I'll braid your hair."

"Okay!"

"Sit down and keep still."

Though they couldn't hear them, Jed and Abbey suspected what was going on. Zoey loved the carousel. Being that close to it without being allowed to ride must have annoyed her to the point of a tantrum, they guessed, and Liz had to intervene.

But Liz's attention was overmatched. Beside her, sat an old portable radio they had brought along and piercing the air was President Reagan's address on the economy. All it took to sway Zoey from any lingering thoughts of the carousel was hearing the end of the president's speech which blended almost seamlessly into the start of Jed's.

"That's Daddy!"

Abbey pulled Jed along on a near jog towards the girls and the radio. Seeing them approach, Liz pointed them out to Zoey, who jumped to her feet, one pigtail braided and the other one dangling loosely as she raced into her father's arms.

"Hiya, chuckles!" Jed threw her into the air and caught her with a kiss.

"My name's not chuckles!"

"It is now, you giggly girl!"

"SHHH!" Liz shushed them so she could hear Jed's response on the radio, but that didn't stop her from flipping her shades and giving him a kiss hello.

Moving from Liz to Ellie, Jed embraced his middle daughter, but she also cut him off when he tried to talk, pressing her finger to her lips and telling him she'd been waiting all morning to hear his speech.

"I'm here, in the flesh," he groused.

"Sit down, Jed." Abbey yanked on his arm until he sank to his knees to join them on the blanket. When he did, she threaded her fingers through his and watched him while she listened to his voice on the radio.

Jed didn't have to search her expression to know what she thought. He knew it with her smile and with the silent platitudes that poured out of her eyes with every blink. She had heard most of it on the phone the night before and the things that Samantha changed were things that Abbey wasn't crazy about in the first place. A smug nod of her head reminded him of that. He pinched her arm until she laughed and then looped his arm around her back to let her lean into his frame so he could hold her from behind.

"The political spin is likely to frighten you into thinking of all the businesses that will fail or the jobs that will be lost to a minimum wage hike, but study after study has shown exactly the opposite to be true. Incrementally raising the minimum wage will, in the long run, boost a failing economy and have far-reaching consequences throughout society by weakening the barriers of inequality that separate us into financial classes."

Abbey stroked his hand, so impressed by her husband and all he had done in the few short months since he'd taken the oath of office. He went to Washington an inexperienced politician wanting to serve his community. With the commencement of his first national public policy speech, he had grown into his role in ways she couldn't have imagined. He was still the caring and compassionate person he had been in the New Hampshire legislature, but now he was something more. He was a statesman. Exuding class and dignity, he was a fighter who was taking on the President of the United States on issues near and dear to the people who voted him in office. Abbey couldn't have been more proud.

For his part, Jed tuned out the radio address. He had read that speech so many times, he didn't need to hear it blaring out across the National Mall to recite it. Instead, he looked at the faces of the people he was with - the enthusiasm he saw in Elizabeth, followed by the thumb's up gesture that told him she approved, the confused yet satisfied look Ellie gave him, obvious that though she didn't quite grasp the legislative lingo he spouted, she was certain he did it well anyway, and the spirited smile that Zoey cast. She didn't understand any of it, but she was thrilled to have her father's voice echo through a little black box for all to hear.

And, of course, there was Abbey. Jed rubbed her arms as he held her. A lot had happened in the last three months, things that he couldn't have predicted. When he married the love of his life, he had to adjust to living with her. He never guessed that nearly 20 years later, he'd have to adjust to living without her.

There had been some bickering, some disagreements, and even a few fights between them, but they were minor in the long run. And looking back on it now, Jed realized that the cross words they shouted at each other on that tense weekend in February was as much a mechanism of adjustment as the fantasies that they each took comfort in when the lack of physical intimacy drove them crazy with desire during the work week. It was hard being away from her and the life-changing events they'd confronted made it that much harder.

Abbey's miscarriage still stung. There were unanswered questions lingering in the air about the possibility of adopting another child or of starting a reelection campaign. And there was still the matter of continuing to adapt to all the changes in their family brought about by his absence. He had no doubt in his mind that they could do it. They might have had a bumpy start, but they had finally reached a point where it was clear to them both that they were still the partners they always had been and nothing - not physical distance or manipulative employees or problems with the girls or crippling grief after an unexpected gift was cruelly taken from them - could change that.

"Honey?" Abbey nudged him by squirming so he'd loosen his grip. When he did, she leaned forward and opened the picnic basket to dish out two fortune cookies lost between the containers of Chinese food.

"Chinese food, I should have guessed," Jed laughed, remembering back to the first night in the empty DC apartment when they dined on Chinese take-out on an old blanket they spread over the hardwood floors.

"Remember what we said that night? A fortune can change everything."

"We never clarified, for better or worse?" He watched her eyes twinkle when she saw what it said.

"Oh, it's definitely for the better. You'll love this one." She straightened out the slip of paper that held the nugget of wisdom and read, "Break out the lab coat and spend the day playing doctor.'"

Liz tried to ignore it at first. It was when she caught her parents exchanging gooey eyes that she realized she couldn't. "That is so over-the-top gross!"

"We could do mad things with that stethoscope." Jed played along despite Liz rolling her eyes. "Thermometer too."

Liz stuck her fingers in her ears. "Besides the fact that I now need therapy..."

"Excuse me, I'm trying to flirt with my wife, if you don't mind."

"You're making out with her over your radio address which I would like to hear!"

"It's just about over." Jed reached for the dial.

"NO! I wanna hear it all."

"Me too," Ellie agreed.

Jed shoved Liz. "Killjoy!"

When Lizzie swatted him with her sweatshirt in response, Jed aimed his clutches at her which made her scramble to her feet and run from one side of the blanket to the other, expecting fully that he'd do the same. Predictably, he did, and soon after, Ellie and Zoey jumped up to help their sister escape their father's wrath. Abbey shook her head at her rambunctious family. She would have joined them, but first, there was something else she wanted to do. As the girls screamed while Jed chased them around the musical carousel several feet from the steps of the Capitol, she turned up the radio to hear the very last line of Jed's speech and with a self-restrained cheer in her heart, she listened proudly as he finished.

"Once again, I'm Congressman Jed Bartlet. Thanks for listening."

The End

To be continued in Father of Daughters


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